


Flame in The Wind

by autumn_daisies



Series: Happier [2]
Category: NCT (Band), Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, And I update fast, Angst but they're all children, Child Chenle, Child Donghyuck, Child Jisung, Child Mark, I promise there's a happy ending here somewhere, M/M, SKZ are parents, Soulmates, add, anger issues, parenting is hard, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-29
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-02-09 13:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18638857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumn_daisies/pseuds/autumn_daisies
Summary: Mark is only in second grade, so why is life already so difficult for him?The answer is Donghyuck.Annoying, loud, antagonizing Donghyuck.And all Mark wants to do is not be the angry kid for once.





	1. Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello! Welcome back! It's been... approximately no time at all. I hope you read the last fic in this series? Just a warning that this fic is about both Stray Kids and NCT pretty centrally, so I hope you stan them both. If you don't, well, what are you doing?
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

  Mark was spacing off.

  He knew that he should be paying attention to whatever the teacher was talking about, but he just stared at his legs as he kicked them back and forth, his feet hardly grazing the ground. He wanted to be productive like everyone else. He just couldn't.

  He knew that Chris and Woojin didn't think he was stupid.

  But he  _ felt  _ stupid.

  Mark liked to run around and dance. He had been in dance classes with his Uncle Minho, Felix, and Hyunjin since he learned to walk, and it was the one thing he felt good at. He liked music. He hummed to himself to bring order to the buzzing of numbers inside his head during math lessons, and sometimes they calmed down long enough for him to do his work. When they didn't, he got help from Woojin. He just focused on getting by in school, even though he was only in second grade. He often despised how much longer he had to go.

  "Psst! Mark!"

  "What?"

  Lucas had passed him a torn corner of a sheet of notebook paper with just a smiley face drawn on it in pencil. Mark grinned and drew a combination of lines to make a cool, three-dimensional S. Lucas marvelled at it when he handed the paper back. 

  Mark glanced at the clock. He got to leave in only twenty minutes. He prayed for it to pass quickly.

  Luckily for him, it did, and he was quickly able to sprint from the room, backpack hanging off one shoulder, and find his usual seat on the bus.

  Soon, a familiar smile appeared beside Mark, smiling to show his missing front teeth. "Hi, Chenle," he greeted with a smile.

  Chenle returned the greeting and started rambling about his school day. Frankly, Mark didn't want to listen, but Uncle Ji made him promise to take care Chenle whenever he could. He was like his younger brother or something. Mark really liked to hang out with Chenle's cats, too, so he had learned to put up with his presence. He wasn't even annoying some of the time.

  "How was your day?" Chenle asked after a while, turning to him.

  Mark shrugged. "Boring."

  Chenle pouted. "You always say that."

  "Well, it's always boring," he grumbled, slumping down in his seat.

  "Come on, we're almost there," Chenle beamed, pulling on his hand. Mark stood and took Chenle's hand in his to lead him safely off the bus, feeling like he could finally breathe when he ran into his dad's arms. Chenle could be suffocating with his sheer volume at times.

  Donghyuck walked past Mark without a word to Uncle Felix before turning around and putting on a voice that was almost  _ too  _ nice, especially for him. "How was school today, Markie?"

  He hated when he did that.

  Donghyuck seemed to go out of his way to antagonize him, but no one else seemed to notice, and only told Mark to calm down when he decided to say or do anything in response. No one could tell that he was being mean. They all thought Mark was crazy. He huffed in response, clenched his fists, and bolted towards his apartment building. He only felt better when he was able to lay face down on the couch.

  "Hey, kiddo," a soft voice resounded from somewhere else in the room. "You doing okay?"

  "I'm fine."

  "Make sure you eat a snack," Woojin advised, patting his head before returning, presumably, to his office.

  Mark was glad neither of his parents had the time to listen to his problems. The one thing he hated more than having all these problems in the first place was people pressuring him into talking about them. He was also grateful for his lack of homework. He kind of wanted to go to the studio with Uncle Lix, since he didn't seem to be very busy, but then he might bring Donghyuck. He could go with Uncle Hyunjin, but he had just finished adopting a four-year-old child the day before, so he probably didn't want to go anywhere. That left Uncle Minho, but he was always trying to choreograph important things. Mark sighed in frustration.

  Whenever Mark felt sad, frustrated, or any negative emotion, for that matter, the feeling seemed to morph into anger that made his skin itch and his face burn. Usually he was pretty good about dancing when he was upset, like Uncle Minho had taught him too, but sometimes he forgot. Mark noticed that he was getting angry, though, so he just remembered what his teacher had told him. He moved to sit on the ground and took in deep breaths through his nose, not allowing himself to move into he knew he wasn't angry anymore.

  Mark eventually opened his eyes and wiped away the angry tears that had slipped out. He was calm. He felt hollow, but he figured it was better than the alternative.

  There was a knock on the door that shook him out of his head. "Woojin?" he called. "Someone's at the door!"

  "It's Uncle Minho and Chenle," Woojin responded.

  Mark padded over to the door and opened it. Chenle had changed out of his school uniform, which made Mark remember how awful and constraining his was. He let them in, rushed to his room to change, and returned. Uncle Minho had gone to talk to Woojin, so Mark made his way over to where Chenle was sitting in front of a box of toys.

  "Let's play together!" Chenle enthused. "Please?"

  Mark didn't  _ love  _ to play with Chenle. He was a baby, after all, only in kindergarten. Still, Mark found him cute and fun enough that it wasn't a complete waste of his time. And Chenle almost never made him mad. Chenle was energetic, but he seemed to like Mark, so he never got argumentative. He appreciated it.

  "My string is moving around," Chenle said, stopping his construction of a mismatched tower of blocks, holding up his pinky.

  Mark remembered being told about Chenle's soulmate bond. Mark didn't know what his is yet. He didn't care much, either. All he wanted to do was graduate from school and get Donghyuck to shut up for once in his life.

   Uncle Minho soon walked out of the office, ruffled Chenle's hair, and opened the door for someone who hadn't even knocked yet.

  Uncle Hyunjin walked through the door slowly, carrying a small child in his arms, who he was staring at intensely.

  "Why did he have to be named Jisung?" Uncle Minho asked. The child - Jisung - had wide eyes and, frankly, he looked terrified to be there. He hid his face in Uncle Hyunjin's chest.

  "He's already four," Hyunjin said. "We can't change it at this point."

  "Dadda is Ji and the baby is Sungie," Chenle said, not looking away from his finger.

  "But I call him Sungie," Minho argued.

  "Get over it," Hyunjin said with a laugh.

  "Dad," Chenle said, walking towards Uncle Minho.

  "Yes, Lele?"

  "My string," he continued. He pointed towards Jisung, who had since separated himself from Uncle Hyunjin enough to look at Chenle.

  Hyunjin squinted at Chenle, and looked back at Jisung. Jisung held up his hand. "String," he said simply, pointing back at Chenle.

  Uncle Hyunjin carefully placed Jisung down on the ground, and he approached Chenle slowly. Chenle quickly wrapped him in a hug, and Mark expected Jisung to cry out of terror, but he didn't. "Soulmate," Jisung mumbled. Chenle nodded.

  Hyunjin let out an ugly, loud sob, and Minho had his nose bridge pinched between his fingers.

  "What am I supposed to do with this information?" Minho voiced, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Sungie? Yeah, I need you to come home. No, I'm not mad. I'm sure Woojin and Felix would appreciate you sending their husbands home, too. Okay. See you at home, babe."

  Minho hung up the phone and looked down at Chenle, who was now rushing back to play with Mark, unaccompanied by Jisung. He looked back over to the youngest child, and he had hugged himself to Uncle Hyunjin's legs.

  "Is Sungie going to play?" Chenle asked.

  "He's scared," Hyunjin explained. He turned to Minho. "I don't know what happened to him with his biological mom, but he's scared of everything. I mean, it's understandable, but I'm worried."

  "If he's comfortable with Seungmin, he can learn to be comfortable with anyone," Minho answered with a smile.

  Mark played with Chenle some more, who sometimes rushed over to talk to Jisung again. Soon, Chan arrived home, and Mark hugged him begrudgingly. Uncle Ji, Minho, Seungmin, and Hyunjin talked quietly in the kitchen. Soon, Uncle Changbin and Felix joined them, meaning that Mark was now burdened with the presence of his least favorite person on Earth.

  "Hey, Markie," Donghyuck drawled as soon as his parents were out of the room. Mark felt his face heating up in frustration, so he just continued running his toy cars along the hardwood floor.  _ Just ignore him. _

__ "You never told me how your day at school was."

  His tone didn't sound as annoying, so Mark decided to answer. "It was boring."

  "Really? Nothing dramatic happened?"

  "No, Hyuck, now leave me alone," Mark spat.

  Donghyuck smirked. "There's nothing to get  _ angry  _ about, Markie."

  Mark stood suddenly, kicking the toys out of the way as he stormed into his room. Chenle called out for him, but he didn't look back. He would hurt Donghyuck if he had to be around him any longer. He didn't want to.

  "Daddy, Mark is ignoring me!" he heard Donghyuck screech through the door. Evidently, his claims didn't take him very far, because no one came into his room. He sat down on the floor and tried to breath, but he could still hear Donghyuck's complaining. He stood and paced, stomping along the ground.

  The door soon creaked open.

  "Hey, Mark?"

  He looked up to see Chan, who was smiling at him lightly, but he looked disappointed. Mark hated when he looked disappointed. He averted his eyes.

  "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

  Mark didn't speak.

  Chan sat down on his bed and patted the space next to him. Mark didn't sit beside him. "Hey," he repeated.

  "Hyuck makes me mad," Mark said finally. "He uses a mean voice with me, and… and it makes me feel stupid."

  "Do you know if he does it on purpose?" Chan asked.

  "Yes," he said stubbornly. He wanted to scream at Chan for never listening to him. No one thought Mark was ever justified in his feelings. "He wants to make me mad."

  "Well," Chan said. "I think it would help if talked it out with him."

  Mark huffed angrily. He knew he was starting to yell, which always made things worse, but he just didn't care. "I don't  _ want _ to talk to him. Or look at him. Or think about him."

  "Okay."

  He looked skeptically back up at Chan. "Everyone will go home now, okay? And I won't make you talk to Hyuck."

  Mark smiled gratefully.

  He stayed in his room until Woojin came in to tell him everyone was gone, and that he was making dinner. Mark came out to the living room to clean up his toys, but found that Chenle already had (save for blocks that spelled out a messy 'Chenle'). He finished picking up and turned on the TV to watch Pokemon.

  He always could pay attention to that. Even though listening at school was a daily battle he hardly ever won, things that he liked were able to grab his brain and not let go. Even music class was able to do that, and sometimes English and reading, but the other subjects were fleeting. Of course, he didn't think about that as he watched the brightly colored characters on the screen.

  "Mark?"

  He didn't glance away from the TV. Woojin's voice was fuzzy background noise.

  "Hey, Mark?"

  He didn't turn.

  Mark registered a heavy sigh from behind him and was quickly attacked with tickling, jerking his attention away from the show and towards Woojin. Chan turned the television off and they all sat down to eat dinner.

  "How was school?" Chan asked.

  Mark shrugged. "How was work?" he asked, not giving an answer.

  "It was productive," he said. "Your Uncle Jisung and Uncle Changbin got a lot of work done, too."

  Mark looked up at Woojin for an answer. To be honest, he didn't really understand Woojin's job, but Chan said he managed their music production company, so he figured it was at least important.

  "It was okay," Woojin answered. "Stressful. Today was stressful."

  Mark wanted to apologize for being stressful. He didn't. He just stared into his food, eating a little more before asking to be excused. Chan's face flashed that same dejected expression as he allowed Mark to rush off to the living room to suck himself back into the show he was watching. It allowed him to ignore Woojin and Chan's hushed whispers of "anger issues" and "worried about him". They didn't talk about it with Mark. He was a thing to be worried about, talked about behind his back, managed when Donghyuck stepped too far. He stared harder into the screen, ignoring the lump that started to grow in his throat.

 

-

 

  He missed all but one.

  Mark missed all but one problem on his math test.

  After Donghyuck's most recent torture, Mark had grown a lot more motivated to pay attention to his studies. However, he tended to just focus on focusing, leading to him using all of his energy to stay still and  _ look  _ attentive instead of actually gleaning anything from the lessons. Chan had kept his promise of not making him interact with Donghyuck. He had hardly seen him at all since that day. He'd also hardly seen Chenle, though, because he spent a lot of his time with Jisung now they knew they were soulmates. That meant Mark just spent a lot of time with Lucas. 

  "I failed," Lucas said after they'd been dismissed, shoving his test into his backpack. "You?"

  "Me, too," he complained.

  A failed test meant you had to get a parent signature. That meant Mark would have to look into his dads' eyes and hand them something he was ashamed of. It meant Chan would give him that same disappointed face. He didn't know if he could take it.

  He sprinted to the bus to take his normal seat, and was happy to see Chenle come and sit next to him. "Hi, Mark!"

  "Hi," Mark said. "How was school?"

  Chenle shrugged. "It was good!"

  He didn't rant. Mark found himself missing it, because he didn't want to be left alone with his thoughts, but he said nothing.

  None of their parents were waiting at the bus stop. Mark heard sirens going off in his brain in the tone of Donghyuck chanting "Markie!" much too loud for his liking - that is, audible at all. He squirmed uncomfortably at the nickname.

  "How did you do on your math test, Markie?"

  Mark's fists clenched around his backpack straps. Chenle tugged on his sleeve, but he couldn't find it in him to move. He stared at the ground. "Hm?" Donghyuck asked. "How did you do?"

  "Let's go," Chenle stressed, pulling harder.

  "Leave me alone, Hyuck," Mark said quietly. It was hard not to yell.

  "You would answer me if you did well," Donghyuck teased.

  Mark looked up at his taunting face.

  "You failed, didn't you?" he asked, eyebrows cocked up in mock concern, pushing his face right into Mark's line of sight.

  Mark saw red. He clenched the front of Donghyuck's uniform shirt, pulling him up off the ground. It was easy, since Mark was a year older and much larger than him. The cruel shine in Donghyuck's eyes disappeared, replaced with some unfamiliar emotion. Mark threw him back down on the ground, and Chenle pulled him away, hard, causing Mark to hit the pavement.

  Before Donghyuck could regain his bearings, Mark scrambled up and sprinted to his apartment building, already feeling that his palms were bleeding. He threw open the door. He could feel hot tears on his face and he just wanted to hide in his room forever, but, unluckily enough for him, Chan was sitting in the living room. He turned to Mark and his eyes went wide with concern.

  "Oh my God, kiddo, what happened?"

  Mark sobbed, wordlessly throwing his bag to the ground, taking out his test, and shoving it against Chan's chest, leaving a print from his bloodied hands on the white paper. He bolted to his bedroom before he could see Chan's expression.

  He sat down on the wood floor and tried to breathe.


	2. Violent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark was numb. Numb.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize in advance.

  "-supposed to do?"

  "Channie, I don't know-"

  "I don't know how to help him."

  "Should I go talk to him?"

  "Let him breathe, Wooj."

  "How did he skin his hands?"

  "Can we please take this one problem at a time?"

  "Let him cool down first?"

  "Yeah."

  Mark put his hands over his ears as he continued trying to breathe, even though his palms stung. After his parents had been quiet for a long enough period of time, he managed to calm down enough to stand up. He still didn't want to face them.

  The door slowly creaked open.

  "Hey, kiddo?"

  Mark looked up at Woojin, quickly wiping away his tears. "I'm sorry, Woojin."

  "What are you sorry about?" he asked, kneeling down to look him in the eyes.

  "For failing my test."

  Woojin smiled slightly at him. "Hey, it's alright. Can I fix your hands up first?"

  Mark nodded slowly. He followed his dad to the bathroom and let him wash his hands and wrap them in bandages. Woojin kissed each of the covered wounds separately, and it made Mark feel strangely better. However, that peace was immediately disturbed by the opening of the front door.

  "Chan? Where's Mark?"

  It was the familiar voice of Uncle Felix. Donghyuck's dad, Mark remembered. He sank down and sat on the bathroom floor.

  "He's not doing so well," Chan responded quietly.

  "Donghyuck and him need to talk."

  "I promised I wouldn't make him talk to Donghyuck anymore."

  "But, Uncle Channie-"

  "Changbin, babe, take him back to the apartment, please."

  The door opened and closed again. Woojin reached forward to wrap Mark in a comforting hug.

  "Your child-"

  "His name is Mark, Lix."

  "Don't… call me that.  _ Mark _ pushed Donghyuck. On the pavement outside."

  There was the sound of a loud sigh. "Felix, I'll talk to him, okay? And he'll… write Donghyuck an apology letter."

  Uncle Felix left with the creaking of the door hinges and Woojin pressed Mark closer to his chest. "Is that true, Mark?"

  "What?"

  "That you pushed Hyuck."

  Mark nodded into his shoulder. "Why?"

  He thought over the situation. Honestly, Donghyuck hadn't said anything to him that was grounds for being that upset, especially not by Woojin's perspective. He was so calm and collected. "No reason."

  Woojin didn't press it. He separated from Mark. "Are you ready to go talk to Channie?"

  "Do we have to talk about the test?"

  "Not right now," Woojin answered. "But is it okay if we talk about what happened with Donghyuck?"

  Mark nodded. He knew he had to do it eventually, and now he was already such a wreck that he might as well. He carefully treaded into the living room and sat down on the couch.

  "Hey, bud," Chan said with a smile. He looked unhappy. Mark tried to ignore it.

  "Hi."

  Woojin sat next to Chan and rubbed his back soothingly. He whispered something in his ear and Chan nodded.

  "Are you sure Hyuck didn't do anything?" Chan asked quietly.

  Mark pondered it for a moment before he answered. "He taunted me."

  They knew better than to look for an answer, he guessed.

  "Did you try to calm down?" Chan asked.

  "I couldn't really sit and breathe," Mark mumbled, tugging at his cerulean uniform jacket. "So I just tried to make it stop."

  Chan let out a sigh that made Mark's entire heart sink.  _ Disappointed. _

  "Do we need to tell Donghyuck to stop bothering you?"

  "I can handle this by myself," Mark said.

  "Kiddo," Woojin started, "I know you can handle a lot of stuff on your own. But I think you need grown-ups for this."

  "Chan always says he isn't a grown-up," Mark said, gesturing towards him.

  Chan laughed at that, and Woojin beamed. Mark let himself smile a little.

  "Well," Chan said. "I'm gonna go over and talk to your Uncle Lix and Bin about what we should do, yeah?"

  Woojin's face fell partially as he stood up. "How about this," Woojin said. "I'll call Minho, and he can take Mark to the dance studio."

  Mark perked up immediately. Chan laughed at his enthusiasm. Woojin pulled out his phone and moved into his office.

  After a few minutes, he reemerged.

  "Minho is gonna take Mark and Chenle to the studio," Woojin said, more to Chan than anyone. "Jisung is going to have Donghyuck over."

  Mark rushed into his room to change, delighted just by the chance to go dance again. Uncle Minho soon arrived to take him to the studio, Chenle already holding onto him. Mark grabbed his other hand and happily skipped to Minho's car. Usually, Minho would ask how he was. He refrained.

  "Are your hands better?" Chenle asked, looking at him from his car seat. Mark held up his palms, and Chenle smiled in satisfaction.

  "What do you guys want to learn today?" Minho asked as he drove.

  "Lo-o-o-ove scenario," Chenle sang. 

  Minho burst into laughter. "Where did you listen to that?"

  "Our teacher said it's her favorite song," he answered, bouncing up and down. "It's really old, yeah?"

  "Only if I'm really old, too," Uncle Minho joked.

  "Well, you are," Mark said.

  Minho shook his head and shoved his tongue in his cheek. Chenle broke out in uncontrollable giggling.

  While Minho was teaching them the choreography, Mark never thought about Chan or Woojin or Donghyuck or school. He only thought about dancing. He could see he wasn't good at it, and his limbs never did exactly what he wanted them to, but it was the closest he ever got to self-control. The wide mirrors and hardwood floor let him breathe deeply. All of his aggression was pounded into the ground with every step. He couldn't really explain why he liked it so much. He just did.

  "Alright," Uncle Minho said, turning of the music. "Lele, Minhyung-"

  Mark squirmed at the use of his Korean name. Minho smiled knowingly.

  "It's almost dinner time, so we're gonna head home."

  Mark was sad to go, but he slept so much better after that. He wasn't angry. Not even at Donghyuck.

  


-

  


  "Mark, do you have a signature from your parents?"

  Mark carefully ruffled around in his bag and handed a piece of paper to his teacher. They had opted not to bring the test back due to its disheveled state, so Chan had just written a note back.

  "Mark."

  He looked up at the teacher's kind face. She was nice. He felt bad he never did well in class.

  "I'm going to schedule a meeting with your parents."

  The dreaded words. He knew it was only a matter of time before his scraping by became not enough. He was just hoping he could put it off longer.

  "You deserve to do well," she finished quietly.

  Mark didn't deserve it. He didn't do well, and he didn't deserve to. He was stupid, obviously. He couldn't find another explanation for his grades, for his behavior towards Donghyuck, for his overwhelming need to sit on the floor every time anything went wrong. The very thought made his blood boil.

  He pretended his chair was the hardwood surface of his bedroom floor until it was time to go home, when he ran outside to get on the bus.

  "How was school?" Chenle asked.

  "It was fine," he said.  _ No, it wasn't.  _ "For you?"

  "Great!" Chenle said. "Actually, our teacher told us to draw our best friend from school, and she said I misunderstood because I drew you, and you're not in my class, but…"

  He handed Mark a crayon drawing of a black haired child in a blue uniform, just like the one Mark wore. It could have been of almost any student at that school, but he still appreciated it. He beamed at Chenle, who returned it just as brightly.

  Mark was looking forward to just running home after he got off the bus. Uncle Jisung even came by to pick up Chenle, and bid a cheery goodbye to Donghyuck and Mark. He took a few quick steps towards his apartment building.

  "Markie!"

  He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to look at Donghyuck. His face was just as arrogant. "My parents said you were going to write me an apology note."

  Mark said nothing.

  "I know you failed that test, but I thought you were at least smart enough to write me a letter saying you're sorry for hurting me," Donghyuck continued.

  Mark's willpower had been worn away too much. He held his breath as he whipped around and hit Donghyuck, hard, somewhere on his face. He flailed and his Mark's nose with his closed fist. "Stop talking to me," Mark said, holding his nose as his eyes teared up involuntarily. He ran up to his apartment and threw open the door.

  He couldn't escape from Woojin this time. He was standing right in front of the door when he got there.

  "Kiddo," he said, picking him up hastily and rushing to the kitchen. He wet a washcloth and pressed it against his face. "What happened?"

  Mark was still so  _ angry _ , magma filling his veins and bursting out of his nostrils, making him clench his fingers into fists. His looked at Woojin until he cooled down and could formulate words in his mind again.

  "Please don't be mad."

  "Never," Woojin answered.

  "Donghyuck told me I'm stupid," he said, voice shaking. "And I… I hit him. I'm sorry."

  "Hold this against your face," Woojin said, handing him the washcloth. He did. 

  Woojin rushed into the other room, tapping quickly at his phone.

  "-hit him. Yeah, I know… have to talk to Felix and Changbin… don't know… see you. Bye, Channie. Love you too."

  Chan and Changbin came into the room at the same time, Felix behind them. Donghyuck was noticeably absent, judging by the sounds. Mark sat down on the tile floor and closed his eyes. He could only hear them more clearly in the other room.

  "He hit Hyuck," Changbin said simply.

  "And Hyuck told him he's  _ stupid _ ," Chan argued.

  "That's what kids do!" Felix retorted. "They insult each other."

  "Felix. It doesn't mean that to him," Woojin said calmly.

  "So? That's no reason to hit anyone," Felix said. "Chan! You always said violence is never the answer."

  "Mark doesn't think it's an answer. It's a way for him to escape," Chan said.

  "Like he needs to escape from Hyuck," Felix said coldly. "He's a sweet kid."

  "He's a sweet kid who taunts my son," Woojin said, raising his voice. Mark covered his ears.

  "Mark needs to learn how to deal with it," Changbin responded.

  "What, like your kid isn't an instigator?" Chan mocked.

  "My son is currently sitting in my apartment with a bloody nose because your kid can't handle his emotions. Just because he's violent doesn't mean Hyuck should have to suffer."

  Mark was numb. Numb. Uncle Felix said those things about him. Maybe he was right.

  "I never want to see you or your Satan spawn ever again," Chan spat as Felix and Changbin inevitably left, slamming the door.

  Mark let out a sob.

  Footsteps quickly pounded back into the kitchen. "God, God, Mark, I'm so sorry," Woojin whispered, scooping him up into a hug. There were loud sniffles coming from the living room, and cries from Mark's own mouth, but they felt so distant.

  "Did… did Uncle Felix mean all that?"

  "God, no," Woojin said. "He just really loves Donghyuck. And I don't… Chan and I both don't mean those things we said about Donghyuck. God, that was awful. I'm so sorry."

  "I'm sorry I did this," Mark said. "I'm sorry I hit him."

  "Are you sorry for hitting Donghyuck?" Woojin asked, separating to look at him, "or are you sorry that we argued?"

  "I'm sorry that you argued because of me."

  Woojin laughed wetly. "That's a grown-up problem, kiddo."

  "Are Uncle Felix and Uncle Changbin mad at me?"

  "You know what? We'll talk to them tomorrow, if you want."

  "My teacher said she would email you. She wants to have a meeting. About my grades."

  "Okay, kiddo."

  "Okay."

  Mark didn't sleep very well at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I make Felix such a jerk, you may ask?
> 
> Plot.
> 
> Sorry sorry sorry
> 
> As always, @ByeOrWassupMan on Twitter. Come talk to me :>


	3. Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'd love to talk with you about it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this realistic? Honestly idk. I needed to take a break from disgracing the named of Donghyuck and Felix.

   _Donghyuck,_

_I'm sorry for hitting and pushing you. I wasn't thinking, and I promise it won't happen again. I hope you'll forgive me._

_-Mark_

 

Mark didn't care about Donghyuck's forgiveness. He cared about the haunting sound of Uncle Felix's yelling and Chan's crying as it echoed through the thin walls of their apartment until he managed to fall asleep. Woojin took Mark out to the bus that morning, and Donghyuck was with Uncle Changbin. Donghyuck's face was bruised similarly to Mark's, but his face didn't hold it as well. Mark belonged with ugly things on his face. Donghyuck may have been intolerable, but he was never like Mark in his rash actions. His whole face was tan and smooth, nearly matching the hair on his head, and the bruise was garish against it.

  Mark approached Donghyuck and held out the letter, folded into a small square.

  "What is this?"

  "An apology," Mark mumbled.

  "I reject it," Donghyuck said, crossing his arms. Mark looked up at Woojin, who was gazing at Uncle Changbin with an unreadable expression.

  "Just take it, Hyuck," Changbin said.

  Donghyuck sighed and did as he was told. He read it quickly before handing it to his dad, who did the same. Uncle Changbin folded it and placed it in his pocket.

  The meeting with his parents was scheduled after school, which meant he could at least avoid Donghyuck's torture at the bus stop for one day. When he arrived and took his seat, Lucas's eyes immediately widened.

  "Mark! What happened to you?"

  "I… I tripped."

  "No, did you hear?" another student, Minhyuk, started. "He hit Haechan!"

  "Hae...chan?" Lucas asked.

  "Donghyuck. From the year below us. Everyone calls him Haechan."

  "Nobody calls him that," Mark said bitterly.

  "I can't believe you hit him," Minhyuk accused, walking away. "Seriously."

  Mark was still so numb from the day before. Minhyuk's words didn't feel directed at him. There was a glass wall between him and everyone else, and no one really looked at him - just his bruises and bandages. Lucas did, sometimes, and Chenle, and his parents, and the whole world felt to when he danced. Mark wanted to dance. For the time being, though, he was painfully aware of the eyes on his form, pulling him apart, and sat in his chair to tug at his uniform.

 

-

 

  "Hello, Mr. Bang and Mr. Kim."

  "Please," Chan said, shaking her hand, "it's Chan. And this is Woojin."

  She smiled kindly. Mark slumped down in his chair as if it would make him invisible, even though every eye in the room kept shifting to him every few seconds.

  "Now," she said. "I'm sure you're aware that Mark's scores have not been good?"

  Chan and Woojin both nodded.

  "Has he had… problems with paying attention before? Has this been happening for a while?"

  To his surprise, Chan turned to him for an answer. This was not the setting Mark was hoping for when he wished his parents would listen, but he looked so non judgemental that Mark found himself speaking.

  "Yeah," he said. "I can't listen for very long."

  His teacher nodded thoughtfully. "Mark does amazing in music class, though," she said fondly. "And even in English and reading."

  "He likes those things," Woojin said. Mark nodded.

  She scribbled something down on a piece of paper before looking back up at the three of them. "Does he have any… emotional outbursts? Problems dealing with his emotions?"

  Mark froze. Chan took in a deep breath through his nose. "Yes. He gets angry a lot and isn't very good at dealing with it in the moment."

  The teacher scribbled some more and handed a piece of paper to Chan. "I'm going to recommend you to a children's therapist. She specializes in behavioral issues."

  Chan took the note. "Can I ask why?"

  "Mark is so intelligent," she explained. "I think he may have ADD, and a therapist could help him handle that so he can do the things he wants to do."

  "Thank you so much," he said with a wide smile.

  The teacher shot Mark a calm look, and he nodded thankfully. The things she said made little sense to him personally, but his parents seemed grateful, so he figured it was a good thing. Mark always wanted to handle his problems.

  "Can you call this therapist?" Chan asked, handing the card to Woojin once the got in the car.

  Woojin dialed the number and pressed call on his phone. It rang a few times before he started speaking. "Yes? Hello, is this Doctor Bae's office? Oh, this is she. Nice to speak to you. My name is Kim Woojin, and I was given this number by my son's teacher… her name is Im Nayoung. Wow, really? That's amazing.

  "Yes, his name is Mark. Mmhmm. Yes, he's here. You… you want to talk to him?"

  Woojin looked at Chan hesitantly. "He can speak, Wooj," he joked. Woojin carefully reached back and placed the phone in Mark's shaking hands.

  He hesitantly put it up to his ear. "H-hello?"

  "Hi! My name is Joohyun. Is this Mark?"

  "Yeah…"

  "How old are you, Mark?"

  She sounded nice. Even nicer than Mrs. Im. She seemed like she could be his friend, or an aunt.

  "I'm seven."

  "Woah! I'm fifty-one," she said.

  "That's old," Mark giggled. She laughed too.

  "So, why did your dad call me?"

  She sounded so trustworthy, and the fact Mark didn't know her made it easier to say what he felt without repercussions. "I don't do very well in school. And I can't pay attention. And I get angry sometimes even though I try super really so hard not to."

  "Hmm. Well, I just want you to know that there's a whole bunch of kids who feel that way."

  "Really?"

  "Really. I'd love to talk about it with you this Saturday."

  "Okay."

  "I'd also like to talk to your mom, Mark. Is she there?"

  Mark held his breath as he spoke. "No, I, uh, I have two dads."

  "Oh, gosh, my wife would yell at me if she caught me making these assumptions. Is your other dad there? Can I talk to him?"

  "Chan, Joohyun wants to talk to you."

  Mark gingerly handed the phone back to the front.

  "Hello, Doctor! Yes, this is Chan. No, no, Saturday is great. Whenever works for you… Okay. Yes. See you at ten. Thank you so much."

  Chan handed the phone back to Woojin, who ended the call and put the phone back in his pocket.

  "She's so nice," Woojin gushed.

  "Do you like her, Mark?" Chan asked. He sounded concerned, almost hopeful.

  "I really like her," he said, kicking his legs, careful not to hit the back of Chan's seat.

  "I'm glad, kiddo," Woojin responded.

  Mark's mood was in the best place it had been in a while, especially that week, and he didn't even have to look at Donghyuck after that morning. It was bothersome that he still hadn't gotten to talk to Uncle Felix, but he didn't think he wanted to talk to him.

  He only had to wait until the next morning to talk to Joohyun. Her voice made Mark believe she could fix everything.

 

-

 

  Mark tugged at his jeans awkwardly as he looked around the room.

  The walls were a light blue, almost white, and decorated with posters of cartoon characters and superheroes. There was a pretty woman with dark hair and a slight smile sitting on the ground in a beanbag chair, notebook on her lap. There were chairs against the wall, but Mark had chosen a beanbag as well, and was now trying his best not to fidget uncomfortably. Soon, he abandoned it to sit on the carpeted floor. It grounded him. It helped.

  "Hi," he said finally.

  "Hello," the woman answered, as if she had been waiting for him to say something. "My name is Joohyun. We talked on the phone?"

  "Yeah. Hello. I'm Mark."

  "I remember that," she said with a smile. "Are you sure you don't want any parents in here?"

  He nodded.

  "Okay," she said. "Are you comfortable?"

  Mark nodded again.

  "So? How was your day?"

  "Today?" Mark asked, confused.

  "Yes."

  "It's been good. I got up and ate breakfast and then I came here."

  "What are you going to do after this?" she asked.

  Mark couldn't understand why she was asking these questions, but he found himself comfortable enough to answer. "I'm going to go to the dance studio with my Uncle Minho and Hyunjin. They're not really my uncles. They're Chan and Woojin's friends from a long time ago."

  "You dance?"

  Mark grinned. "Yeah! I really like to dance."

  "Really? What do you like about it?"

  "I think I'm good at it," he said, looking down at his hands in his lap. "And it makes me feel less angry."

  Joohyun hummed and scribbled something down. "That's great! It's always good to have things you enjoy. You mentioned you feel… angry sometimes?"

  "Whenever anything happens I don't like. Uncle Felix and Uncle Changbin have a son named Hyuck and he's really mean. So I've hit him before. Twice."

  Mark realized what he said and held his breath. "Please don't be disappointed."

  "I'm not disappointed, Mark," Joohyun said. "Why do you say that?"

  He squirmed uncomfortably. "Would… would it help if I told you?"

  "Only if you want me to know."

  "Whenever I do something like that… Chan, my dad, he makes this face. He looks really sad. And I know it's because of me."

  "Is that why you want to not be angry?"

  "Yeah. Uncle Changbin and Uncle Felix are mad at me. And they're fighting with Woojin and Chan. I just want it to be better."

  "We'll talk about that later, okay? If you want to. What else do you do to calm down?"

  "I sit like this. On the floor. And I close my eyes and take deep breaths."

  "Does it work?"

  "Yeah."

  Joohyun smiled in acknowledgement and moved off her bean bag to sit on the floor with Mark. "This is nice," she said, wiggling around a little. Mark giggled.

 She asked a lot of questions about school, and Mark answered all of them. No matter what he said, she was understanding and kind. As Mark was standing to leave, she spoke again.

  "I actually was wondering, would you mind if I talked to your dads?"

  "About what I said?"

  "No, about other stuff. I just want to have a conversation."

  Mark nodded and she followed him out into the waiting room. She called for Chan and Woojin, who made their way into her office.

  Chan was crying when he left the office. Mark didn't ask about it and just bounced up and down in his car seat, excited to go to the dance studio. "Hey, Mark?" Chan said after a while.

  "Yeah?"

  "I love you. And I always will. No matter what."

  "I love you, too, dad."

  Chan and Woojin preferred Mark using their names, mostly to prevent confusion, and to prevent a wall from being built between them of parent and child. Still, calling one of them dad was a surefire way for Mark to be tackled in a bone-crushing hug. Chan just cried harder, and Woojin laughed lightly. "He's emotional."

  "It's okay," Mark said with a smile.

  Chan pulled out of the parking lot and did, indeed, wrap Mark in an uncomfortably tight hug as soon as they got out at the studio. Despite his protests, it was nice. Something was different, and for once it wasn't just Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super happy with the chapter, but I hope you enjoyed anyhow!


	4. Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know that's the last thing you want to hear-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a short one! Still, I hope you enjoy.

  "You haven't been riding the bus," Chenle mentioned, rocking back and forth on his heels.

  "Woojin's been driving me to school and home," Mark explained, leaning over the curb to see if the bus was close. He had come down early to wait with Chenle after hearing that Donghyuck was being driven by Changbin when he went to the studio. Chan wasn't going into the studio until Changbin left, judging by what he had said to Woojin that morning. "But I wanted to come ride the bus with you."

  Chenle grinned. "I've missed you."

  "I missed you too, Lele."

  He giggled and hugged Mark quickly. "Have you been doing better? Dadda told me you saw a lady who helped you with school."

  "I have," he said proudly. "I got a seventy on my last math worksheet!"

  "Wow!"

  Mark smiled. The bus pulled up to the curb and they both clambered up the stairs to sit next to each other near the front.

  Mark hated school much less. For the past two weeks, he saw Joohyun twice a week, and he took medicine to be able to pay attention. His grades were getting better, and he danced more with Minho and Chenle. Once, Hyunjin even came with them, and Mark didn't stop smiling for the rest of the day. His parents smiled a lot. Stress weighed down their faces, but things were even better than they were before the meeting with Mrs. Im.

  Minhyuk still sometimes criticized him for bullying "Haechan", but he managed to brush it off. Sometimes, his mind just seemed a little bit too blank to process it. Joohyun said he needed less medicine when that happened. It was hard to balance, she explained.

  "You focus so much during class," Lucas said during lunch.

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah! You don't ignore it to talk to me," he joked.

  Mark rolled his eyes. "That was the point."

  "Still," Lucas said through a mouthful of food. "Where did you get that bruise from?"

  Mark looked to where he was pointing. He didn't recognize the purple blotch on his knee, but just shrugged it off. "Dancing, probably."

  "Klutz."

  "Yah," Mark said noncommittally.

  "You never told me about Haechan," Lucas said.

  "His name isn't Haechan. I don't know why Minhyuk said that."

  Lucas shrugged. "I've gotten in fights before. It's okay."

  "Really? Over what?"

  "Doesn't matter."

  Mark didn't push for my information. Woojin wasn't going to drive him home after school, meaning he had to brave Donghyuck's presence, so he had to preserve all of his energy. He took deep breaths throughout the rest of the day, already feeling the frustration building up in his veins. He would run home as soon as he got off the bus. There was no other option.

  Chenle wasn't on the bus, so Mark occupied himself with the buttons on his uniform jacket and stared out the window. He could hear Donghyuck talking to his friends so much more clearly without Chenle there. They called him Haechan. It didn't sit right with Mark.

  When the bus came to a stop, he bolted down the aisle and out the door. He took a few breaths to steady himself, and-

  "Markie."

  The bus pulled away and Mark turned his head to look at Donghyuck.

  "What do you want?"

  "You've been avoiding me," he lilted. "And my dad told me it's because you can't _stand_ me."

  "I never said that."

  Donghyuck shrugged. "You sure meant it, though."

  "So what?"

  "So? I just want to talk to you without you attacking me."

  Mark turned the rest of the way around and held his arms stiffly at his sides. Donghyuck was close enough that Mark could feel his taunting breath on his face. It was uncomfortable.

  "Hmm?"

  Mark wanted out. He didn't want to look at Donghyuck's teasing eyes or feel his presence close to him. Everything about him was too _close._ His words lashed painfully at every ounce of Mark's body, despite their almost neutral nature if they were separate from Donghyuck's vocal chords. Mark realized, in that moment, that he really was scared of Donghyuck, of the short bully who, in theory, did nothing to him. Mark was scared, and he needed out. He shoved Donghyuck, hard, and turned to sprint away.

  There was a scuffling sound as Donghyuck tripped off the curb and fell into the road.

  An ear-numbing crunch.

  A horrible pain in Mark's right arm. Donghyuck screamed, and Mark winced as he ran up the stairs to his apartment, partially from the guilt and partially from the pain.

  "Dad!"

  Chan ran into the room from the office, eyes wide as they met his bruising and mangled arm. "It's Hyuck. I pushed him and he fell and nothing happened to me but it hurts, it hurts so bad-"

  "Sshh," Chan comforted, grabbing his left hand and pulling him back out of the apartment. He pulled out his phone. "Pick up, pick up…"

  "Donghyuck is-"

  Changbin's voice was harsh enough that Mark could hear it. "I know. See you at the hospital."

  Chan hurriedly led him to the car, buckling him in before getting in the driver's seat and tensely driving onto the road. The pain in his arm had almost become separate from him, and figured he was in shock. His mouth felt full of sand, so he said nothing. Chan drove almost too carefully, despite the visible shaking in his hands. Mark's brain was swimming in his skull. He had no clue what was going on.

  Chan pulled up to the emergency room and helped Mark out of the car. The waiting room was cold and crowded, but exceptionally silent. The very sound made him squirm uncomfortably. Mark noticed someone with a blue uniform, similar to his own. Chan sat him down across the room from the familiar kid - Donghyuck, he figured, but the thought didn't sink in - and made his way to the counter. Soon enough, he returned, almost running back to where Mark was sitting.

  "Are you okay, Mark?"

  "No," he said, voice cracking.

  Chan looked pained as he pulled out his phone.

  "Wooj? I'm at the hospital… I think Mark broke his arm. He says nothing happened to him… I know. I will. I love you, too. See you soon."

  Donghyuck got called back before Mark, but he followed soon and was led into an equally white and uninteresting room. He spaced off the entire time _whatever_ was going on, even after they gave him painkillers. He processed nothing. He couldn't make his eyes focus, and all the voices in the room sounded as if there was static layered over them.

  "Hey. Mark. Kiddo?"

  He gazed up at Woojin's form. _I wonder when he got here._

"They're going to put a cast on. Your arm is broken."

  Mark nodded shakily as he stood up and was led to a different room. They had to cut off his uniform sleeve. He thought it was quite a shame.

  "What color do you want?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

  "...red."

  Mark didn't start to blink back to life until he was waiting for yet another doctor in a small room, Woojin squatting in front of him. "Mark, can you tell me how you broke your arm?"

  "I didn't break it. I pushed Donghyuck, and he fell. He screamed. And now my arm is broken."

  Woojin stood and looked at Chan worriedly. Chan was holding a handful of papers, and held out what Mark recognized as as an X-ray. He whispered something and Woojin left the room.

  He returned with a second sheet in his hand, almost identical to the other. "This is Donghyuck's," he said, holding it out to Chan.

  "How is this even possible?" Chan said.

  Woojin whispered something Mark couldn't hear.

  "That doesn't make any _sense_ ," Chan argued, turning away. "Donghyuck? I… I don't understand."

  "Can we worry about it later?" Woojin asked lightly. Chan paused, staring at the wall, and nodded.

  The doctor told them something Mark couldn't be bothered to comprehend.

  "We have to stay for a little while, kiddo," Chan explained.

  "Why?" Mark said. His eyes had grown heavy in his skull.

  "You're too out of it," he said with a laugh. "Just in case anything else is wrong."

  Mark spoke without intending to. "What happened to Donghyuck?"

  "His… his arm is broken."

  "So is mine," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

  "Yeah."

  "Why is my arm broken? This doesn't make sense, Dad-"

  "Can we… worry about it later?" Chan said, eyes softening.

  "I wanna know," Mark replied.

  "Chan, it's his life," Woojin said, putting a hand on Chan's shoulder.

  Chan sighed and grabbed Mark's hand - the one out of the cast - lightly. "It's called… algia bond."

  "That sounds gross."

  Chan chuckled despite himself and shook his head. "No, kiddo, it's… a soulmate bond."

  "...Huh?"

  "Donghyuck is your soulmate. And I _know_ that's the last thing you want to hear-"

  Mark wrapped his arms around Chan's neck as he began to sob.

  Even in his dazed state, Mark could feel the apocalyptic nature of having Donghyuck as his soulmate. The universe made a massive mistake. Mark had heard of platonic soulmates, but never of enemies dictated by soulmate bonds. He was doomed to spend his life alone, because there was no way he was spending it with Donghyuck.

  "No, kiddo, that's not true. It's okay."

  Mark didn't want to argue.

  He was prone to making mistakes. Mark was no stranger to being wrong. But, if Mark knew anything, it was that him and Donghyuck were like oil and water. The very laws of the universe demanded they be separate, but the choices of the powers that be forced them together. Mark felt sick.

  Donghyuck would never be nice to him. And Mark knew he could never tolerate him, either.

  The notion was wrong and foreign. Every soulmate promise ever made was jeopardized in Mark's mind due to two identical broken arms and one snarky, tan-skinned boy. Everyone was wrong. The universe made a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big plot stuff, huh?
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Tell me what you thought and thanks for reading.


	5. Fifth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been three years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post on time! Still, I hope you enjoy.

  Donghyuck hadn't so much as glanced at Mark since that day in the hospital. Sometimes, Mark thought he dreamed up the whole fiasco, and had to pinch his own arm to watch Donghyuck flinch. Every time he did, Mark's heart sank lower than it ever had.

  Mark gained a reputation. He was the kid who broke Haechan's arm. Whatever Donghyuck had said, he hadn't mentioned taunting Mark for all of his insecurities, and he definitely hadn't said anything about being Mark's soulmate. Mark let it be. He let people think he got in fights, and, with the growing complications of life in general, it was becoming closer and closer to the truth.

  Mark was ten years old, in fifth grade, and he had managed to make one new friend, a girl with levels of unrivaled apathy named Chaeyoung. She and Lucas were the only friends not dictated by Mark's parents. Given that Mark had hardly spoken to Felix and Changbin since he was in second grade, that wasn't working out very well for him. Chenle and Jisung had never left his side, even after… everything.

  Mark was bullied. Technically. He really didn't like to think of it like that.

  He had a lot of time to think about things, given that he spent a lot of time sitting in class and staring at a choice spot on the wall, bouncing his knee as quickly as he could without being yelled at by one of the future valedictorians. He had to hand it to the child geniuses, really - they were too focused on school to be bothered with Mark.

  Mark blinked and shook his head slightly, moving his eyes down to his worksheet. He had written his name on it. He considered that much an accomplishment, especially given that his brain wouldn't focus enough to even read the words on the page. It didn't help that Jungnam - possibly the least interesting boy on the planet - was giggling from behind him periodically with an amount of malice Mark was all too familiar with. He smoothed down the back of his hair as if he could wipe his gaze off and stared at the white space on the worksheet.

  He tapped his pencil against the desk as he leaned back. It was hopeless. Joohyun always told him it was worth it to keep trying, but he couldn't even pay attention to take tests, so the work itself seemed pointless. Mark was geering up to be a nobody, even at the age of ten. It was only a matter of time before someone realized the uniformed schools of Seoul's city center just weren't the right place for him and decided he needed to leave.

  "Pssst! Mark!"

  He turned reluctantly.

  "What'd you put for number four?" Jungnam sniggered.

  "I got 'mind your own business and leave me alone'. How about you?"

  Jungnam raised his eyebrows. He really shouldn't have been surprised by Mark's retaliation. "Oh, I got 'Mark Bang-Kim better mind his own business before he gets his teeth knocked out'."

  Mark didn't want to respond, because he knew he meant it. Jungnam might have been smarter than him and done better in school, but he reputation when it came to violence wasn't dissimilar to Mark's. The difference was that he didn't get angry. He was calculated and controlled. Mark just had angry tears and clenched fists. 

  "What, got nothing to say to that, spazz?"

  "Jungnam, please keep to yourself."

  A small victory for Mark, he guessed. He rejoiced it by spacing off even harder than before. 

  Jungnam kicked him hard when he walked out of the classroom to get on the bus when the day was over. He sighed and hardly acknowledged the blooming bruise on his shin. 

  "Minhyungie!"

  "Lele! How was school?"

  "It was fun. Jisungie keeps complaining to me during recess," he laughed.

  "Really? Why?"

  "Did you know he tried to fail a grade so he could be in class with me?"

  "What?" Mark balked. "That's so… wow."

  "Yeah! He's been complaining about missing me. He's so cute."

  Mark rolled his eyes. He didn't mind Chenle and Jisung and their soulmate bond. It's just that he hated thinking about his own.

  Donghyuck walked onto the bus, and Mark's eyes were drawn to the growing purple bruise on his leg. He sighed. It was all his fault.

  "Yah, Earth to Minhyung!"

  "Not my name."

  "Uh, yes, it is," Chenle said.

  "My parents, like, named me Mark. That's my name."

  "They also named you Minhyung," he teased.

  Mark smiled and shook his head.

  "Anyway, Dad said he can take us to the studio today. Are you gonna come?"

  "I have to go see Joohyun first," Mark answered. "And then we'll dance, yeah?"

  Chenle bounced a little in his seat.

 

-

 

  "Lastly… How was your day, Mark?"

  "It's just… it's like… it's so…" Mark struggled. "It's so hard. It's difficult."

  Joohyun nodded thoughtfully. "Can you elaborate?"

  "I just can't pay attention at all," he lamented. He'd been putting off telling Joohyun about his recent decline, mostly not to stress out her or his parents, but after the day's events, it was clear he had no other choice. "The wall is so much less boring than doing work."

  "So you stare at it?"

  "Yes."

  "I think we're going to have to change your dosage and see how you feel," she suggested, scribbling something. "How have you been doing in the anger department?"

  Mark hardly had issues with that anymore. After all, he was older and smarter, and had a lot more emotional intelligence. He remembered his encounter with Jungnam. "It's been better, but it's definitely been worse."

  "No violence?"

  "No violence," he confirmed.

  She nodded. "A productive session, I'd say?"

  Mark agreed as he stood up from his usual spot on the carpet floor. He spared another look at Joohyun before leaving and closing the door behind him.

  "Hey, kiddo," Chan greeted.

  "Dad," he responded. He made it a point to call him that more often. Mark didn't know why, but Chan seemed happier when he did.

  Chan drove him to the dance studio and left, presumably to do some work before they had to go home for dinner.

  Chenle wrapped him in a hug as soon as he got there, and Jisung offered a small smile. Uncle Hyunjin and Uncle Minho were both standing towards the back of the room when they started to stretch.

  The dance they'd been working on was difficult. It was taxing in an extremely satisfying way that left Mark with a clear mind and eyes that didn't dart to the nearest blank surface. He couldn't execute it as well as he would like to, or even as well as Jisung (who was surely a prodigy of sorts), but he enjoyed it nonetheless.

  Mark danced until his legs felt like the might fall out from underneath him, and Uncle Minho drove him back to his apartment building.

  He heard talking from inside the apartment before he even opened the door. He unlocked it and entered cautiously. He could make out fragments of a conversation.

  "It's been three years, Felix, and I'm really so sorry."

  "I'm… I'm sorry, too."

  The talking was coming from the kitchen, so he peaked in slowly.

  Uncle Felix and Changbin were sitting on one side of the dining table, Changbin looking tense and Felix more exhausted. Chan and Woojin were on the other side, both with unreadable expressions.

  "Mark?"

  "Hi."

  The air was thick. Mark had hardly spoken to his two uncles since he was in second grade, and he always presumed they hated him. He couldn't find any other answers.

  "Do you wanna… say something?" Woojin asked.

  Mark shuffled over to stand next to his parents, hoping it'd make him feel less tense. "I'm sorry I broke Donghyuck's arm. And I'm sorry I hit him a lot. I hope you recognize that I didn't do any of it on purpose."

  "I know, Mark," Felix said, smiling warmly. "I should be the one apologizing."

  He looked at him questioningly.

  "I know… you heard what I said about you that day. And I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

  "It's okay."

  "Are you sure?"

  Mark nodded and smiled.

  "You're a good kid, Mark," Changbin added. Mark rocked back and forth on his heels, revelling in the compliment. It wasn't one he often received.

  "Does that mean Uncle Felix can teach me dancing again?" he asked.

  Felix laughed before nodding.

 

-

 

  Day by day.

  "Yo, spaz."

  Jungnam delivered a swift kick to his leg, sending him sprawling out on the sidewalk. A few bruises on his knees.

  "Bet you're real sarcastic now."

  An aggressive punch in the stomach. No marks.

  "What, are you… angry?"

  A shoulder push he refuses to reciprocate, earning a punch that narrowly misses his eye, instead landing on his jaw. Despite the aching, he revelled in the fact that it hurt Jungnam more than him.

  "Do you regret what you said to me? Huh?"

  A push that sends him to the ground, followed by a kick in the ribs.

  "You'll always be nothing."

  An elbow to the nose.

  Each time, Mark took it. He said nothing to anyone. On some level, he figured it was his own fault for giving Jungnam so much material with which to torment him. He knew he was right. Every mean comment coupled with an attack was deserved. He played off the bruises on his face to his parents as sports injuries, but he felt progressively guiltier every time Donghyuck came on the bus with more dark blotches.

  Contrary to reasonable belief, Mark didn't hate Donghyuck. Seeing him twisted something inside him, and not all of it was loathing. He felt regretful for being so mean to him. He felt nostalgic for what it was like to think Donghyuck was just a bully, nothing more. And, most of all, he felt loss.

  Donghyuck hadn't given him anything to lose, but thinking about it made Mark so empty. He sometimes offered him eye contact. Mark could never tell what it was supposed to mean.

  He accumulated more minor bruises on his face (Jungnam may have been cruel, but he certainly wasn't strong.). It was meaningless until he saw them on Donghyuck's tan face, and then the world crashed down again and again, afternoon after afternoon. Mark was tired. His parents seemed to suspect something was going on, asking about it after every new visible wound. Mark didn't tell them.

  Donghyuck's passing looks towards him seemed to linger for a few seconds longer than necessary. Mark chalked it up to their shared battered appearances, worsening with every minor outburst of Mark's that he couldn't manage to suppress. When Joohyun put his dose to high and he couldn't manage to do much of anything other than focus, it only got worse. Mark didn't tell anyone.

  But he really,  _ really _ hated Donghyuck's bruises.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What even is thisssssss


	6. Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You're going to regret that one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Stuff is finally happening.

  Mark was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, eyes closed and body still. Jungnam had said something he rather not repeat even to himself, and he had been actively trying to calm down ever since he got home. It was peaceful.

  However, he was quickly jolted from his stupor by a scraping at his left forearm. He winced as he looked down.

  There was nothing there other than the new red marks, not bleeding, just rubbing the screen raw. He rolled his eyes and cursed whatever Donghyuck was doing, but the marks seemed so purposeful. Letters. He watched slowly as they formed on his skin.

_ Stop. Fighting. _

__ Mark sighed as he poked habitually at the bruises on his face. He'd garnered a few new ones recently, and Donghyuck noticed, of course, given they showed up on his skin as well. Most of the wounds were near his ribs, so no one saw but them. Mark relied on Donghyuck to keep it a secret. He couldn't trust him with that for long, though, and he was waiting for the day everything was unravelled and he became not only the angry kid on medication but the one who made adults intervene. If his situation could get any worse, he didn't want to witness it.

  He rubbed his arm with his other hand soothingly until the redness faded, but the message remained in his brain. Donghyuck was getting tired of this. And he wasn't going to keep the secret for much longer.

 

-

 

  Mark didn't mean to do it.

  One second, Jungnam was laughing at Mark, presumably having a lovely time insulting him to his horde of friends, sitting on Lucas's left while Mark sat on his right (by force and not choice). The next second, Mark was calculatedly elbowing Lucas hard as he took a drink from his milk carton, sending it tipping towards Jungnam and spilling milk all over him but avoiding Lucas's uniform. Lucas and him both apologized. Jungnam walked by on his way to the bathroom and flicked him in the back of the head.

  "You're going to regret than one, Minhyung," he hissed.

  Mark was absolutely terrified. Through the rest of the day, he was distracted by his impending doom instead of nothing, which made his mind wandering seem more productive but still not at all enjoyable. He fidgeted constantly in his seat, preparing to bolt as soon as they were dismissed, but he knew it wouldn't work. He would only be putting it off. Mark figured that, if he'd ever be ready, he would be ready that day. It didn't mean he was ready. He was numb.

  When the bell rang, he dragged his feet as he walked out of the classroom and out of the school. He walked to the bus half-heartedly, knowing he'd never make it there. His fears were only confirmed with a harsh tug at the back of his blazer. Someone whirled him around to hold him by the collar

  "Yah, so you're Mark?"

  The boy was unfamiliar, but tall, probably at least a year old. Jungnam was behind him, arms crossed, along with several other boys. Mark refused the tall boy's demand for eye contact as he yanked him to the side of the school, into a grove of trees that wasn't hard to see into but very easy to ignore.

  It was dark. Mark easily could have gotten someone to help him by yelling, but he couldn't make himself.

  "You've gone too far," the unfamiliar boy growled. He let go of Mark and pushed him to the ground. He fell hard backwards on his forearms. He didn't try to get up.

  "I never did anything to you," Jungnam taunted. A few of the others laughed at his tone. "All I did was say what we  _ all  _ know. And you know it, too."

  Mark clenched his teeth together.

  "Look at me," Jungnam demanded. Mark didn't. He repeated himself louder, coupled with a kick to Mark's ribs, and he obeyed.

  "Idiot," Jungnam scoffed. He kicked him again, not as hard, but it was in a spot that was already bruised. Mark whimpered, only making them laugh harder.

  He figured they all kicked him at least once before the tallest one grabbed him and pulled him to his feet again, reeling his fist back to hit him. Mark didn't find himself cringing in preparation. He stared straight at the trees behind his head, hoping he could just refuse to pay attention to it. His fist moved fast and collided with the right side of Mark's face, and he cried out as he fell to the ground. Among the laughter, there was another, similar cry of pain, but it didn't come from Mark's mouth.

  "Ow! What the-"

  A figure marched through the trees purposefully, hand over his tan and bruised face, his lip bleeding.

  "Haechan?" Jungnam balked. He sounded almost scared. Regretful.

  Donghyuck uncovered his face and approached Jungnam quickly. He looked terrible. Mark presumed he looked worse. He wiped the blood off of his lip with his sleeve and winced at the sting of the harsh canvas on the wound. "Get out of here," Donghyuck spat. "And don't ever touch him again," he said, pointing at Mark.

  Mark swallowed hard as the group reluctantly made their way out of the woods and to the sidewalk. Mark sat up slowly. Donghyuck silently held out his hand to help him up. Mark accepted it gratefully. 

  "Did you start it?" Donghyuck asked accusingly.

  "No."

  "Then why were they doing that to you?"

  "It started because they were defending you," Mark said bitterly. "I hurt you three years ago and they hated me ever since."

  He expected Donghyuck to argue, but his face just fell.

  "I… I really am sorry about that," Mark said as they walked slowly to the sidewalk. They'd long since missed the bus.

  "I know," Donghyuck said. "I was… kind of a jerk."

  Mark laughed a little. "Yeah, you were."

  "Whatever," Donghyuck said, looking away. "They shouldn't bother you again. And I'm going to tell my parents."

  "But-"

  "Relax. Neither of us could avoid it. I'll make sure everyone at school knows Jungnam is a jerk."

  Mark nodded appreciatively. "Thanks."

  "Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't say anything about this."

  Donghyuck started to walk away.

  "Where are you going?"

  "Dad's coming to get me," he said. "You should come with."

  Mark wordlessly followed him to the pickup area. Donghyuck opened the door to the car and Mark got in the other side.

  "What happened to you?" Uncle Changbin exclaimed, unbuckling his seatbelt to turn around. "Both of you!"

  "Jungnam's been beating Mark up. I just found out about it."

  Mark sighed when Changbin's eyes turned to him. "I… I'm sorry."

  "Oh my God, what are you sorry for?"

  "For not telling anyone," Mark said, brushing dirt off of his uniform.

  "We'll talk about it with your parents," Changbin said, reluctantly turning around and driving off. "Are you okay? Any major injuries?"

  "We're fine," Donghyuck mumbled.

  They didn't speak again until all three of them arrived in Mark's apartment, Uncle Felix right behind them.

  "Oh, God," Chan worried, rushing over to Mark and touching his face lightly. "Are you okay?"

  "Yeah-"

  "He's been being attacked after school every day for weeks," Donghyuck exclaimed angrily.

  "Why didn't you say anything? We asked you," Chan said.

  "I just didn't."

  Chan sighed. "You have to tell us stuff like that."

  "I know."

  There wasn't much else that could be done. Chan treated his wounds and Felix treated Donghyuck's (they may have been injured together, but healing didn't work that way). Mark went to bed early, but he couldn't fall asleep, partially due to the persistent pain in his head from being knocked around so much, and partially because of Donghyuck.

  Not once had Donghyuck ever been nice to him. Even then, he was just looking out for himself, trying to put an end to the unexplained injuries, but he had helped Mark. It stirred something inside of him and Mark cursed the fact that they were soulmates. Donghyuck clearly still didn't enjoy his presence, and Mark could say the same for himself, but there was a strange pull to him. Donghyuck's face reminded him too much of being in second grade and being bullied, but now that was synonymous with Jungnam. Donghyuck saved him.

  Mark slammed his face into the pillow, only further aggravating the cut on his lip, which would probably annoy Donghyuck to no end. He didn't want to like Donghyuck.  _ God, _ he would do anything to have a different soulmate and tell the universe to try again, but he was his soulmate. It was unavoidable. And both of them really had tried to avoid it.

  Mark hated the fact that Donghyuck had helped him. He was just more conflicted than ever. 

  He didn't exactly know how to feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Tell me what you think and thanks for reading.


	7. Simple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do you know Haechan?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I hope you enjoy.

  Middle school is different.

  In seventh grade, Mark became aware that things weren't exactly the way they used to be. School was harder, people were meaner, and everything was more complicated. Frankly, Mark didn't think any of that was possible, yet it happened. The other thing about middle school was that people had crushes on others, and more people found their soulmates every day. Still, a lot of people dated outside of soulmate bonds, and having crushes outside of them was unavoidable.

  "Do you like anyone?" Lucas had asked him once.

  Mark thought. There were cute girls in his dance club, sure, but the only girl Mark was close to was Chaeyoung, and she was like a sister to him. And it was so hard to like anyone knowing who his soulmate was, but he knew he had to, eventually.

  But Mark saw Donghyuck on the bus every morning and afternoon, all tan skin and sun-lightened hair, likeable aura and years of history between them.

  Mark had a crush on Donghyuck.

  And it was stupid. Because in the past five years, Donghyuck had made it abundantly clear he wanted nothing to do with Mark. Even after Donghyuck had saved him from Jungnam two years prior (and made him so disliked that he transferred), he made sure never to talk to Mark if not totally necessary. Sometimes he asked about their shared injuries. They talked when they both went to dance lessons, since they both started taking proper classes. Around people, though, Donghyuck wouldn't even give him the time of day.

  "Why do people even call him Haechan?" he had asked Chaeyoung one day.

  "His legal name is Donghyuck," she answered.

  "...yeah?"

  "He thinks it's ugly," she explained. "Probably. Don't quote me on that."

  Mark may have liked Donghyuck, but he had his fair share of problems with him. With a ton of his friends talking about Donghyuck and his circle of friends - mainly three boys named Renjun, Jeno, and Jaemin - it wasn't hard to figure out that he was popular. He cared about what people thought of him, and whatever he was doing worked. Mark heard a ton of people talking about him. He found himself almost despising that perfect image, because he knew Donghyuck, and all of his classmates only knew the persona he displayed.

  He voiced this to Chaeyoung one day while they were lounging in his room after school.

  "He has a right to be his own person," she said. "But at the same time…"

  "It's ridiculous, right?"

  Chaeyoung nodded. "Yeah, what is he even doing?"

  Mark scoffed. " _ He's _ ridiculous."

  "You still haven't talked to him, have you?"

  "I mean, it's not that I haven't, it's that I can't, because… there's a reason that is reasonable-"

  "So you haven't."

  He sighed. "No."

  "If you don't tell him how you feel, there no way for him to know."

  "But he hates me," Mark complained, flopping down on his pillow. "It's pointless."

  "If he hates you, you just continue without your soulmate. If he doesn't, then you can have one," she said. "You don't have anything to lose."

  "I'm not going to tell him."

  Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. "Fine, but then you have to stop talking about him to me all the time."

  "But-"

  "I mean about how cute he is. I really don't care," she joked. "I care about your life, Mark, just not Donghyuck's face."

  "You haven't told anyone he's my soulmate, right?"

  "No. Does Lucas even know?"

  "No," Mark lamented. "I don't know if I trust him with that information. And Donghyuck said to tell no one."

  "He's embarrassed of you."

  "He thinks I'm going to make him unpopular," Mark said, exasperated, "which is totally fair. Because I'm less popular than almost everyone."

  "Not true," Chaeyoung said. "Everyone knows you."

  "Not in a good way. It's just like that time you punched Lucas in the face and everyone talked about you for a week."

  "We're friends now, though!" she joked, slapping his shoulder. "And that means Donghyuck can forgive you for breaking his arm five  _ years  _ ago."

  "Well, have I forgiven him?"

  "Have you?"

  "Yeah."

  Chaeyoung laughed. Her phone buzzed and she checked it. "I actually have to go, but I'll see you at school tomorrow."

  Mark bid her goodbye and walked her to the door. "How's Chaeyoung doing?"

  "Fine," Mark said, raising his eyebrows at Woojin suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

  He was clearly trying to stifle a grin. "Do you-"

  "If you ask me if I like her, I will run away and never come back," he huffed, stomping off towards the kitchen. Unfortunately, Chan was already in there, laughing uncontrollably while bracing himself against the counter.

  "I don't like her," Mark said, defending himself.

  "I know, kiddo," Chan replied, straightening up and ruffling Mark's hair. "Does she have…?"

  "A soulmate? Yeah, first words."

  Chan nodded.

  "I  _ don't like her,"  _ Mark reiterated, stomping from the room.

 

-

 

  Mark totally wasn't planning on confessing  _ anything  _ to Donghyuck. Still, Donghyuck returned to dance class on Sunday afternoon from the beach, skin newly tanned and hair sun-bleached, and Mark had to kick himself for being so  _ stupid _ . He didn't want to like him. He would prefer almost anything else.

  The only thing that could remedy Mark's ailments would be getting to work with Chenle or Jisung on the randomly assigned partner dance for their forced talent show (just a recital, but they generally picked their own songs with choreography and learned them) in a month, but he knew he'd be getting his hopes up. And of course, dramatically, he gets paired with…

  ...well, you know.

  Donghyuck doesn't protest being paired with him, which is surprising. He just makes his way over and they stretch together, Mark fiercely avoiding eye contact. "She said… we get to pick a song?" Mark said after a little while. 

  Donghyuck nodded. "Any ideas?"

  Mark didn't have any. Donghyuck rolled his eyes at his stalling. "You can seriously suggest anything. I only listen to ballads."

  "I'm not dancing to a ballad."

  "My point exactly."

  "Dad and Uncle Jisung and Changbin finished a new tracks last month," Mark suggested, messing with a loose string on his t-shirt.

  "Which one were you thinking? Have you listened to Maze of Memories?" Donghyuck said. "We could do that."

  "You listened to it?"

  "It's my  _ dad _ , Mark," Donghyuck said, defensively, but he smiled. "It means we have to choreograph ourselves, though."

  "Uncle Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix can help," Mark said. "But we can work on ideas now?"

  Donghyuck nodded. His smile was so bright. Mark cursed himself.

  They still managed to make some progress, despite Mark tragically and obviously becoming distracted by both blank spots of the wall and Donghyuck's skin. He was almost the same color as the hardwood floors.  _ Beautiful. _

__ Mark felt like he could finally breathe when he got into Chan's car. He leaned back in the passenger seat.

  "Tired?"

  "Yeah."

  "How was dance class?"

  "Tired. Oh, and Donghyuck and I are working on a choreography. Of Maze of Memories. I was hoping you could help."

  Chan beamed at the mention of the song title. "Of course!"

  "Thanks, Dad."

  "Wait. You're working with Donghyuck?"

  "...yeah."

  Mark braced himself against Chan's next words, but they didn't come. He just hummed in acknowledgement and nodded. It was almost scary, but Mark wasn't up for talking about his tragic crush on his own estranged soulmate, so he said nothing.

  Working on the choreography was going surprisingly well. Uncle Jisung and Changbin gave their visions on the choreography, and Minho and Hyunjin helped refine all of it. Mark paid attention in class better than he had probably ever. He got a 95 on his math test. Some people called him a tryhard, but it felt good to be something other than what he was.

  "Yo, Mark, do you know Haechan?"

  Mark froze. Minhyuk had spoken to him from sat and ß e across the cafeteria, and school was already over. He should have left, but he swallowed hard and answered. "Not personally."

  "I thought you broke his arm when you were, like, six."

  Mark faked a laugh as he made his way over. "I guess I did. I haven't really spoken to him since."

  "Really?" 

  Minhyuk looked strangely suspicious of Mark's words. "Yeah?" Mark said tentatively.

  Minhyuk shrugged. "I just heard him talk about you is all."

  "What did he say?"

  There was a stupid smirk on Minhyuk's face as he spoke. "He just said he doesn't like being around you."

  Mark rolled his eyes. It's absolutely nothing he hadn't heard before, but he felt a sharp pain when he swallowed. "Yeah, well, good for him," he mumbled, turning and walking away.

  Clearly there had to be more to that, right? Donghyuck had been almost  _ nice _ while they were working on the choreography, and it made Mark hopeful for something. He didn't know what, just… something. A revoking of Donghyuck's rejection, perhaps, which Mark realized he never asked for. He had to ask for that.

  Mark felt a dull pain blossoming near his knee as he got in the car. He rolled his eyes. Donghyuck must already be at the studio. Chan drove him there and dropped him off.

  When Mark entered the room, Donghyuck was sweating, clearly having been there for a while. "...you fell?"

  Donghyuck turned suddenly to face him and laughed. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

  "What're you practicing?"

  "The choreography. Our recital is in a week."

  "Already?"

  Donghyuck sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair. "Yeah, they moved the date up. We really should start practicing every day."

  He looked stressed. "It'll be okay," Mark mumbled.

  "For you," Donghyuck said. "You're, like, a natural."

  Was that a compliment? It sounded like a compliment. Mark tried not to let it get to his head.

  "I can help you," Mark said quickly. "I think I have it all down."

  Donghyuck nodded. Mark turned on the music and did the choreography as best he could, all too conscious of Donghyuck's eyes on him. The music stopped and Donghyuck groaned. "I'm hopeless! This is so hard," he complained.

  Mark laughed as Donghyuck sprawled out on the floor. "Come on," he said, kicking his foot. "Let's run it."

  He sat up slowly. "Ugh, fine."

  Mark smiled, and Donghyuck smiled back, and he felt so good. Just good. Not warm or fidgety or complicated. Simple. Good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah? Fluff. It was a good chapter to write, y'all. Cleared my skin.


	8. Platonic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Hyuck✨  
>  That was totally unnecessary]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of a longer one for you all today! Enjoy!

  Mark couldn't focus.

  His eyes darted from one place to another as he stood backstage, bouncing on his heels, pacing, ghosting through the choreography occasionally to soothe his nerves. He had been working on this dance for a month with Donghyuck, and it was of his dad's own song. He really didn't want to let him down. "Mark."

  He tugged at the sweatshirt he was wearing.

  "Mark!"

  He forced himself to look at Jisung, who giggled. "Are you nervous?"

  "Yeah."

  "You'll do great. I've seen you."

  "Where's Donghyuck?" Mark asked, standing on his toes to look around the crowded space.

  "I think he's getting his makeup done."

  Mark sighed. He really couldn't handle the sight of Donghyuck in makeup at that point in time. He'd be too cute. Too much.

  As if on cue, though, someone tapped Mark on the shoulder. He jumped violently. "Chenle!" he scolded.

  Chenle cackled. "Did I scare you?"

  "No," Mark said defensively.

  Chenle's satisfied grin didn't fade, and he took Jisung's hand in his own. "I'm so excited!"

  "I wish," Mark said, pulling at his sleeves again.

  "You just need to breathe," Jisung said unhelpfully.

  "I just need Hyuck to get out here. We're on soon."

  They, indeed, were on soon. They were speaking in hushed whispers so they couldn't be heard over the music on the sound system as a different duo performed. Chenle shot him an understanding look. "We're on next, Ji," Chenle said, pulling him away.

  "Good luck," Jisung said.

  Mark nodded. Luckily, Donghyuck did appear from the crowd, in a white sweatshirt and black jeans. Mark was wearing a black sweatshirt and white jeans - a sort of Yin and Yang affect. Mark couldn't help but think it was all too fitting for the two of them. Perfect, popular Donghyuck, and flawed, unlikable Mark. His throat went dry at the thought. He really didn't deserve Donghyuck.

  "You look worried," Donghyuck said with a small smile.

  Mark sighed. "I am."

  "Is it just the performance? Or something else?"

_ You. You. You. You. _

__ "Why would I tell you?" he retorted sourly.

  Donghyuck let out a heavy breath. "Mark, I know I was mean to you. But you can trust me now. It's okay."

  Mark was overwhelmed with the temptation to spill all of his thoughts then, but he figured it could wait, at least until after the performance.

  "Do you… mean that?"

  "I wouldn't say it if I didn't," Donghyuck mumbled, walking towards him and elbowing him slightly. "Come on, Chenle and Jisung are on."

  They were amazing, obviously. The dance was cute, just like Chenle and Jisung themselves, and Mark couldn't help but smile. The crowd erupted in applause when they finished. They bowed and hurried off the stage, sweat gleaming on their foreheads and grins bright enough to blind. "You did amazing!" Mark said.

  "You're next," Chenle teased.

  He gulped.

  Donghyuck was biting his lip nervously, and Mark was at least happy that he wasn't the only one freaking out. He never was the only one suffering, he supposed 

  "Let's go," he said, nudging him with his shoulder.

  They walked out and, for a second, nothing happened - it was all bright, hot lights, and glances between the two of them in an attempt to keep calm. The music played. And Mark felt alive.

  The dance was muscle memory. He pounded everything he felt into the ground with every stomp of his foot, and he spared Donghyuck glances whenever possible to make sure he was okay. He was smiling, face glowing in the spotlights, movements fluid and smooth, different from Mark's more calculated ones. Mark wanted to tell him. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say, but as the music died and the crowd erupted, he felt words with indecipherable meanings threatening to escape his throat.

  "You still look nervous," Donghyuck joked as they hurried backstage. Mark felt congratulatory slaps on his back and words of praise, but his eyes stayed trained on Donghyuck's face as he beamed.

  Mark figured he might as well.

  He let the words spill out of his mouth. "Donghyuck, what did you mean when you said I could trust you?"

  Mark could hardly hear himself over the din, but Donghyuck seemed to understand. "I meant that… you know..."

  "I just was wondering because, well, it's kind of stupid, but…"

  Donghyuck raised his eyebrows expectantly.

  "I want to be soulmates with you."

  Donghyuck, face flat and expressionless, pinched his own arm harshly.

  "Ow!" Mark yelped. "What'd you do that for?"

  "We've  _ been  _ soulmates, Mark."

  "Yeah? Well, you could have fooled me," he huffed.

  Donghyuck frowned. "I know. I'm… I'm really sorry. Have you really forgiven me for everything?"

  Mark nodded.

  "Okay."

  "Okay. Okay. Okay?"

  Donghyuck rolled his eyes. "Okay, I accept you as my soulmate. We can be friends."

  Mark grinned and had to hold himself back from jumping around. "Okay."

  "Okay," Donghyuck repeated, a big, teasing smile on his face. Mark hurried off to find Chenle.

  "You did great!" Chenle enthused. 

  "Thank you," Mark said. "Donghyuck. He just said he'd be my soulmate. We're friends now."

  Chenle smirked evilly. "But I thought you  _ liked  _ him."

  "I never said that," Mark defended.

  "Well, Uncle Woojinnie sure did."

  "Traitor," Mark cursed, looking out towards the crowd as if his stare could kill his own father from backstage.

  "I'm happy for you," Chenle said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And you have time."

  "Yeah, you aren't dating Jisung, either," he pointed out.

  "Dadda said I can't," Chenle whined, kicking the ground. "I'm 'too young'."

  "You are. You're a baby."

  "Whatever," Chenle said.

 

-

 

  Donghyuck and Mark had rarely, if ever, been seen in public together. Mark didn't talk about Donghyuck, unless it was with Chaeyoung, and Donghyuck didn't talk about him ever, judging by the lack of questions Mark had gotten about it. He didn't want to ask about it, really, but Chaeyoung pointed out that they had been friends for two months and it was still some kind of secret. Mark still saw him when he came over to play videos games. They talked at dance practice at the studio. But within the walls of the middle school, their usual banter was completely absent.

  It still hurt to watch him when they were at school - something Mark could never touch. Donghyuck was still ashamed of him. Chaeyoung told him that every time he brought up Donghyuck's avoidance. Mark had asked Donghyuck to hang out outside of school before. He never agreed.

  "You have to go talk to him," Chaeyoung said, pointing him towards Donghyuck. They were at dance club, which was just ending, and Donghyuck was with his friends. Mark didn't want to do that.

  "I don't want to do that."

  Chaeyoung sighed. "Fine. Then just suffer in silence."

  "I don't want to do that, either," Mark complained.

  "Then  _ talk  _ to him."

  Mark sat there, though, until most of Donghyuck's friends either left or dissipated. Mark stood and approached him, throwing an arm over his shoulder. "Hey, Hyuck!"

  "Hi," Donghyuck said, eyes anywhere but Mark's form. "What are you doing," he whispered, more demanding than asking.

  "Hanging out with you?" Mark suggested. He could see something like guilt and fear in Donghyuck's face. He didn't like it.

  "Not here, Mark. Not now."

  Donghyuck still wouldn't look at him.

  "...she was right," Mark said through gritted teeth, mostly to himself, clenching his fists as he walked away. Chaeyoung quickly gathered up both of their backpacks and scampered out of the room behind him.

  "What an absolute ungrateful idiot," Chaeyoung said, handing him his bag. He slipped it on and kept walking out of the building.

  "He's so shallow," Mark vented, carding a hand through his own hair and balling it into a fist. He sat down on a bench outside the doors, Chaeyoung gently sitting beside him.

  "Do you hate him?" she asked.

  "I'm just angry," he sighed. "I don't know."

  Mark waited with her in silence until Chan's familiar black car pulled up, and he stood.

  "Markles," Donghyuck's familiar voice drawled. "Mark!"

  Immediately his heart brightened. He loved his voice. He turned to see Donghyuck's wide smils, not a hint of regret or knowledge in his being.

  "Do I even know you?" Mark asked, fists balled at his sides. "Haechan?"

  Donghyuck's eyes widened in surprise before his face screwed up in something akin to pain. "Mark-"

  "Please," Mark said. "Leave me alone."

  He climbed in the passenger seat and slammed the door shut as hard as he could. "Hey, hey. Mark."

  Mark closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the chair, breathing slowly. "I'm okay."

  "Do you want to talk about it?"

  "Donghyuck is being stupid," he huffed.

  Chan laughed emptily. "Do you need adults?"

  "No," Mark assured him. "I just-"

  His phone buzzed from his pocket. He pulled it out instinctively.

 

[Hyuck✨

  Mark I know you said to leave you alone but I'm not going to do that

 

Hyuck✨

  Please talk to me

 

Hyuck✨

  I know what I did wrong I just want to talk]

 

  Mark sighed. As much as Donghyuck didn't want to interact with him, he sure was annoying. But… what was that? He  _ knows  _ what he did wrong?

  That meant he knew what he was doing hurt Mark, but he was just too selfish to care. Mark slapped himself across the face harshly, earning a concerned look from Chan. His phone went off.

 

[Hyuck✨

  That was totally unnecessary

 

Hyuck✨

  I hope you know I'm never going to shut up until you talk to me]

 

  Mark shoved his phone back in his pocket. He couldn't be bothered at the moment. He ignored the harsh pinch on his cheek that was undoubtedly Donghyuck getting tired of this. Mark had to try not to laugh. As unbearable as the situation was, he still liked Donghyuck a lot. Even his annoying spamming text messages.

  Still, to Mark's credit, Donghyuck didn't rry to talk to him at school the next day. Chaeyoung comforted him in his fuming. When Mark returned home, he was just so overwhelmingly tired. He changed out of his uniform and flopped down in the couch, ignoring whatever ruckus was going on in the hallways outside.

  It was unusual, and it only got louder.

  It was a collection of hushed whispers.

  "What are we even doing here?"

  "I wanted to go to the arcade."

  "If you both don't shut up, I am going to deck you into the sun."

  "We know you love us, Renjunnie."

  "What kind of slander have you been listening to?"

  "Hush, hush! I'm knocking!"

_ Knock. Knock. Knock.  _ Mark rolled his eyes. Haechan's friends had apparently found the wrong house, judging by the presence of 'Renjunnie'. He wanted to just ignore them. He didn't.

  He opened the door to find three mildly familiar faces - Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun, like a host of cartoon characters standing in front of him with wildly different facial expressions. As comical as it was, Mark was undoubtedly threatened. They surely couldn't have anything nice to say. Jeno greeted him first, eye smile wide and voice sincere. "Hey, Mark! It's Jeno."

  "I know," he replied cautiously. "Jaemin. Renjun."

  The other two nodded in recognition. "Okay," Renjun started. "Donghyuck sent us over here because he thinks you think something or other about him. I wasn't listening."

  "I cannot believe you," Jaemin said plainly. 

  "...come in," Mark said, stepping aside. They filed into the apartment.

  "What Renjun meant to say," Jeno announced, "is that Haechan, our dear friend-"

  "He is literal Satan."

  Jaemin smacked the back of Renjun's head and smiled lovingly.

  Jeno continued, unbothered. "Haechan told us that you're his soulmate!"

  Mark stared at him. "What."

  Donghyuck made him promise not to tell. What is this? He told  _ them?  _ Donghyuck must not have cared about their opinions at all.

  "Dude, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Jaemin observed.

  "He saw Renjun," Jeno said with a giggle.

  Renjun sighed in exasperation. "He realized he has to deal with Haechan as a soulmate for the rest of his life."

  "Yeah, it sucks," Mark said. "Anyway, he told you? He said it was a secret."

  "Donghyuck thought he'd be less popular if people knew he had a soulmate," Jaemin said with a shrug.

  "Yes. Because that soulmate is me. And nobody likes me."

  "I like you," Jeno said, a helpful lilt in his voice.

  "Thank you."

  "Anyway," Jaemin continued, "Haechan relies on everyone being in love with him. And if he has a soulmate, that gets a bit harder."

  "But  _ you _ are his friends."

  "True. I don't even like him," Renjun said.

  "He's only this salty around strangers," Jaemin defended, laying a hand on Renjun's (very short) shoulder. Renjun didn't shrug it off, to Mark's surprise.

  "What's your soulmate bond?" Jeno asked curiously.

  "We have a pain… thing. I can feel all his pain and he can feel mine."

  "So if I slapped you-" Renjun started.

  "Yeah, he'd feel it the same."

  "Can I?"

  "Renjun, no," Jeno said. "We just came by to tell you that we're, like, your friends now."

  "...okay."

  "That was easy," Jaemin remarked, holding up his hand for a fist-bump. Mark obliged. He never really had more than his two friends plus Chenle and Jisung. It was nice.

  "Does this mean it isn't a secret anymore?" Mark asked.

  "None of us can ever shut up about anything," Renjun said, "so yeah."

  Mark nodded, taking in the news. Just then, he felt a sharp pinch in his arm. "Sorry!" Jaemin said, backing up. "I just wanted to see."

  Mark's phone buzzed.

 

[Hyuck✨

  Freaking stOP]

 

  He showed the text to Jaemin, whose face lit up in wonder. Mark rubbed his arm. "Don't do that again," he pouted.

  "No promises," he teased.

  Mark rolled his eyes.

* * *

 


	9. Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Five, six, seven, eight-"

  "Mark!"

  He turned to the cheery voice, immediately being met with Jeno's eye smile from across the lunch room. "Come sit with us!" he enthused.

  That table was prime real estate. There was no way Mark could sit there, and he had prior commitments. He gestured to Lucas and Chaeyoung.

  "Bring them too!" Jeno called.

  Mark looked to the two of them for approval. Lucas was grinning, and Chaeyoung shrugged in indifference, so he started over and took the spot next to Donghyuck at his gesturing. "Hi," Mark said. Donghyuck latched onto his arm immediately.

  "Are we all better now? Do you feel sorry for slapping me?"

  "I didn't slap you."

  Donghyuck scowled. "You know what I mean."

  "You totally deserved it," Renjun remarked through a mouthful of food.

  "Yes!" Chaeyoung agreed enthusiastically. "I would've done it myself."

  Renjun's eyes lit up as he looked over at her. "What's your name?"

  "Chaeyoung. And you are?"

  "Renjun. Welcome to the Haechan bullying squad."

  Chaeyoung swelled with pride.

  "You see what I put up with?" Donghyuck said, turning back to Mark.

  "Seems like a personal problem," he replied.

  "Maybe you are still mad at me."

  "Absolutely not," Jaemin said, taking his spot next to Jeno. "We're friends with him now, and we healed his bitter heart."

  "I'm not bitter! I was justifiably upset," Mark defended.

  "I have no clue what's going on right now," Lucas lamented from his other side.

  Renjun rolled his eyes, but he seemed excited for the opportunity to explain something. "Haechan and Mark are soulmates."

  "What?" Lucas shrieked.

  "It's a pain soulmate bond," Jaemin said helpfully. He reached over and pinched Mark's arm, resulting in a yelp from Donghyuck. Lucas nodded in understanding.

  "And Haechan wanted to keep it a secret to preserve his perfect image-"

  "That doesn't exist!" Jeno interjected.

  "Yes, and now we all know."

  Lucas turned to gape at Mark. "You never told me!"

  He shrugged. "Donghyuck said not to tell."

  "I knew," Chaeyoung piped up. Mark glared daggers at her. 

  Lucas scoffed in dramatic offense but quickly gave it up. Donghyuck laughed, shining and feather light, and Mark had to turn away.

  Mark ate lunch with them, all his friends, every day after that.

  It didn't take very long at all for suspicion to arise, in the form of none other than Minhyuk. Mark thought he really needed to learn to mind his own business.

  "Mark!" Minhyuk called as he was leaving to go to meet Donghyuck outside the school. Mark raised a suspicious eyebrow at him.

  "Haechan's soulmate is  _ you?" _

__ "Don't act so surprised," Mark said, deliberately not taking any steps towards him. "What, you jealous?"

  Minhyuk laughed. "You got me there. It is surprising, to be fair."

  Mark didn't answer, just exited the building to find Donghyuck waiting while playing some overly adorable mobile game. He smiled upon noticing him, and Mark returned it. "Hey!"

  "What's up?" Mark greeted.

  Donghyuck shrugged. "Not much. Thought we could walk to the studio and you could help me with the choreography we're working on."

  Mark snickered, remembering the bruises they both shared on their legs due to Donghyuck's failure to do the dance correctly. "Alright. For your safety and mine."

  "I'm not that bad."

  "You're a hazard," Mark joked as they started to walk.

  "You're so mean," Donghyuck pouted, crossing his arms.

  "Absolutely," Mark retorted. He waited a second. "Not."

  Donghyuck slapped his arm just to link it with his own. "What have I ever done to you?"

  "I have a list, do you want me to read it?" Mark retorted. He did not have a list.

  "Being too cute isn't a crime."

_ It should be. _

__ "That isn't on the list."

  They arrived soon at the studio. Uncle Minho was at the front desk talking to someone about something, and offered the two of them a wave. Mark returned the gesture and walked with Donghyuck into the room Mark considered his second home - all smooth hardwood and floor-to-ceiling mirrors, the whole space filled with memories and potential. "So, what are you struggling with?" Mark asked, moving to plug his phone into the speakers.

  "Most of it?" Donghyuck offered. "I can do this part."

  Donghyuck then stood, hands clasped and head down.

  "What part is that?"

  "The part before the music starts," he responded, looking up and smiling.

  Mark sighed, exasperated. Donghyuck was not a bad dancer. He was also incredibly clever, so it wasn't common for him to be so unknowing of a routine. "How have you not learned this?"

  "Maybe I just didn't pay attention," Donghyuck retorted.

  "That's my thing," Mark accused. Donghyuck laughed, just a puff of air escaping his lungs.

   Mark turned the music on again and stood up to start dancing. The song was a cheery summer song by a group called Seventeen, made quite a while ago by his standards. Mark really appreciated older pop songs, and their dance instructor seemed to as well. He danced the whole song lazily, his movements not too sharp since he hadn't warmed up, and flopped down on the floor when he finished. Donghyuck groaned. "This choreography is so hard! Why did she assign this?"

  "It's supposed to be challenging," Mark said with a shrug.

  "She thinks we're professional idols or something," he complained.

  "I thought you'd be into that idea."

  "I mean. You aren't wrong."

  Mark stood. "So, we're going to start at the beginning."

  For the most part, their practicing went smoothly for footwork, but Donghyuck just didn't know what to do with his arms. "No," Mark said, exasperated, showing the correct move again. Donghyuck's elbows and wrists were twisting in ways he hardly even thought possible.

  "How is this different from what you're doing?"

  "It literally looks nothing alike," Mark responded.

  Donghyuck sighed. Mark grabbed his wrist, ignoring the weird tingly feeling of Donghyuck's skin on his, and gently moved his hand into the correct position. Donghyuck stared at him instead of the mirror. It was highly distracting. Mark used his other hand to push Donghyuck's elbow, and then stepped away. "Like that."

  Donghyuck didn't speak for a second, just practiced stepping in and out of the position before nodding in understanding. Mark counted from one to eight a few times, watching him step through it. Donghyuck met his gaze through the mirror, and Mark smiled in approval. Donghyuck beamed.

  "Not bad," Mark said.

  "What are you saying? That was perfect."

  "Now we have to do the rest of the dance," Mark said, moving to stand next to Donghyuck. "Five, six, seven, eight-"

 

-

 

  "Good work, Haechan!" their dance teacher praised. He grinned into the mirror as they all executed the last few moves. Mark swelled with pride, and Chenle shot him a strange look.

  "Where'd you learn it so well?" she asked.

  "Markles taught me," Donghyuck said, drawing out the last syllable and latching onto Mark's arm. He shook him off and tried to will away the burning in his cheeks.

  Jisung pointed subtly and laughed, earning a death glare from Mark and a dolphin-esque giggle, nearly a screech, from Chenle. Mark ran a hand over his face. He might as well accept his fate.

  "Thank you," Donghyuck said quietly, hugging him more sincerely. He wanted to push him away out of his usual defiance and discomfort with having Donghyuck's electric presence so close to him, but he didn't. He even allowed himself to rest his hands on Donghyuck's back. It was nice. Simple. Chenle was still screaming, and Jisung had done something that warranted being chased around the room, so Donghyuck separated and offered him a smile. Mark returned it.

  "Even though I'm perfect and don't need your help," he added.

  "You literally asked me for help."

  Donghyuck looked off to the wall behind Mark's head. "Y'all hear something?"

  Mark pushed him with a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a shorter one! I actually wasn't planning for this chapter to exist at all, honestly, but while writing the next one I realized how necessary it is. I hope you enjoyed!


	10. Jealous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [Nana  
> welcome one and all]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no clue what I'm doing anymore.

  No one touched Mark after that. No one bothered him or bullied him. Donghyuck's sheer power had saved him. It was strange, but Mark would take anything he could get.

  Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun eventually joined their dance classes, all having picked up quite impressive skills at dance club, creating the dream team that was the three of them, Mark, Donghyuck, Chenle, and Jisung. They were almost inseparable.

  Mark's crush on Donghyuck didn't fade. Every glance, every smile - he just wanted to tell Donghyuck how he felt, and it persisted almost annoyingly. Mark was fifteen. Welcome to 10th grade.

  "Markles," Donghyuck drawled. "Are you going to walk me to my first class? Of my first day?"

  "You wish," Mark replied, trying to hide how mildly endearing his extremely annoying behavior was. He walked him there anyway.

  Donghyuck hugged him quickly - clearly trying to irritate him, as he often did, though Mark had to feign its effectiveness - and hurried into his class. Mark sighed and shook it off as he walked back to class. He felt the delicate scratch of nails along his arm, hardly enough to hurt, but it was present. Mark did it a few times out of anxiety in eighth grade, and usually Donghyuck would return it as a form of comfort. It became a kind of ritual. Mark scratched back and smiled lightly. Donghyuck scratched a heart into the skin, leaving a red mark of the shape, and Mark rubbed his palm over the scratch to soothe it.

 Mark had been dreading Donghyuck's entrance into high school. Of course, Donghyuck was his best friend, to Lucas's misery, and Mark wanted to spend more time with him. However, every minute with him made Mark more infatuated, and he came that much closer to just accepting his affection and throwing off the whole balance of their friendship. He couldn't do that. But now Donghyuck was in his lunch period and his thoughts constantly, with no space to escape to, and Mark knew he was destined to suffer.

  There was no safe place to hide.

  "Oh, you're in this class. Thank God."

  Except with Chaeyoung.

  Mark smiled up at her as she hung her bag on the bag of the chair beside his. "Two years left to go," she said wistfully, sitting down and plopping her face into her hands.

  Chaeyoung may have been rash and quick to anger, but she never judged Mark or told his secrets. Lucas was a little bit too bouncy and unreliable for Mark to confide in, despite how much he enjoyed his friendship. Chenle and Jisung were in their own world, and still in middle school. Everyone else was either primarily loyal to Donghyuck or was Donghyuck himself, and risking Donghyuck knowing about his feelings was completely out of the question.

  "We're starting operation _Figure Donghyuck Out_ , right?" she whispered.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You don't remember?" Chaeyoung said, evidently surprised.

 

   _"He never apologized for keeping your soulmate bond a secret," Chaeyoung claimed, rolling off the bed._

_"I mean. He kind of fixed it today. He let us sit with him."_

_"But he never said he was sorry."_

_Mark sighed and thought for a second. "You're… right."_

_"And he still hasn't explained why everyone calls him Haechan instead of, ya know, his name."_

_"You said it was because it was ugly," Mark recalled._

_"But he hasn't said that."_

_"... True."_

_"You have to talk to him about this. We have to figure it out. He's your soulmate, shouldn't you know?"_

_"Yeah, but… I'm not doing that."_

_"Do you want me to ask?"_

_"No."_

_"Then you have to do it."_

_"Fine. If he doesn't tell me by two years from now, I'll ask him."_

_"That's so long!"_

_"Do we have a deal or not?"_

_"Fine."_

 

  "Oh. That," Mark said. "I mean? Maybe?"

  "We have to," Chaeyoung argued. "You promised!"

  "I, uh, don't remember that part," Mark lied unconvincingly.

  "Yes, you do. And you're gonna talk to him about it."

  "...fine."

  "Really?"

  Mark buried his face in his hands before nodding. The bell rang and Chaeyoung smiled in satisfaction.

  Mark really had planned to, but Donghyuck was too busy ranting about how great his first day was going during lunch, and Mark didn't want to interrupt. He loved hearing Donghyuck talk, even if he acted annoyed by it.

  Mark also intended to talk to Donghyuck about it after school, mostly because of Chaeyoung's aggressive encouragement, but he found him outside with someone else when Mark came to find him. Donghyuck was wildly popular, so it wasn't unbelievable, but he didn't recognize the girl he was talking to. She was tall, taller than both Mark and Donghyuck, and slender, with a shy smile and big eyes. _Pretty._ Donghyuck was talking to her enthusiastically, his gaze never leaving her face. Something stirred in Mark's chest.

  Despite Donghyuck's failure to notice him, he still approached him. He had to do something about the strange sinking feeling in his chest. "Hey, what's up?"

  "Mark!" Donghyuck greeted. The sheer enthusiasm in his voice lightened his heart a little bit.

  "Hello," the girl greeted quietly. She gave a small wave.

  "Mark, this is Tzuyu. She's in choir with me. Tzuyu, this is Mark, my best friend."

  No _my soulmate._ Mark was annoyed by that much more than he felt he should be, so he pinched his own arm subtly and watched the expression on Donghyuck's face. He winced but said nothing.

  "Nice to meet you, Tzuyu," Mark said, holding back every fragment of upset in his body by clenching his fists tightly. "My dad's here, so I have to go."

  "Bye," Tzuyu said as he quickly walked off.

  After he closed the car door a little bit too forcefully, Woojin cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "Not a good first day?"

  "No, it was fine."

  "You can tell me, kiddo."

  Woojin's voice calmed him down instantly. He sighed and started to speak. "Did you know… that I like Donghyuck?"

  Woojin smiled slightly, amused. "I did. He's your soulmate."

  "We both know that doesn't mean much, Dad."

  Woojin laughed. "True. Well, what's wrong, then?"

  "Donghyuck doesn't know. And now I think he likes a girl."

  "A… girl?"

  "I'm just as surprised as you are," Mark huffed.

  "Well, you should tell him before it's too late," Woojin said. "You'll regret it."

  Mark knew he wasn't going to do that, since it probably was too late already. Donghyuck was the kind of person to set his mind to something and never give up. Judging by his facial expressions, some that Mark had never seen, he had already made up his mind.

  Mark didn't see as much of Donghyuck that week. He missed him. When his phone buzzed on Friday night and saw Donghyuck's contact pop up on the screen, he scrambled to answer, only to be disappointed by what he read.

 

[Hyuck✨

  Mark I need help

 

Hyuck✨

  I like Tzuyu

 

Hyuck✨

  You have to help me ask her out]

 

  Mark was angry. Angry, angry, more angry than he had been in a while, and it wasn't even at Donghyuck. He was mad at himself for not doing something about it, and, okay, maybe he was a little mad at Donghyuck. They weren't in a relationship, contrary to what Mark wanted, but did being soulmates mean nothing to him?

 

[Mark

  Do it yourself, coward]

 

  It wasn't uncharacteristic for Mark to say something like that, but he knew he had a bite behind the words. Donghyuck did not.

 

[Hyuck✨

  So rude T-T]

 

  He wiped away the hateful tears that were threatening to fall off his face. He shouldn't feel this way. He knew that. Tzuyu was a nice girl, so sweet and pretty, and Donghyuck seemed to like her a lot. Mark had no exclusive right to Donghyuck, even though the universe had kind of said so. He covered his face as he fell backwards, lying on his bedroom floor. It had only been five days. Mark had known Donghyuck his whole life. Maybe Donghyuck didn't even like boys. Mark's whole world was crashing down around him, and there wasn't anyone to go to, except for… Chaeyoung.

 

[Mark

  Chaeyoung

 

Midget 🤙

  Yo, what's up?

 

Mark

  You know Tzuyu

 

Midget 🤙

  That girl you said you think Donghyuck likes? Not personally. But yeah.

 

Mark

  He just told me he likes her

 

Midget🤙

  Oh shit

 

Mark

  Language

  But I don't know what I'm supposed to do

 

Midget 🤙

  We don't even know if she likes him back

  And if he confesses and she does… I'm great at turning people against Donghyuck.

 

Mark

  Tzuyu's too nice. I don't think that would work

 

Midget 🤙

  You'd be surprised

  But you telling Donghyuck you like him is out of the question?

 

Mark

  Yes

 

Midget 🤙

  Then we'll wait.]

 

-

 

  "Guys!" Donghyuck yelled, rushing up to the lunch table. Mark looked up immediately, and Chaeyoung looked like she was ready to fight someone. Jaemin, Jeno, and Renjun seemed uninterested, and Lucas was blissfully unaware of anything that was going on.

  "I told Tzuyu I like her this morning," he said, beaming, but Mark was broken into a million pieces, shaking slightly in frustration. "She likes me, too!"

  "But you're annoying," Renjun said through a mouthful of food.

  "I'm happy for you," Jeno said genuinely.

  Donghyuck turned to Mark, apparently looking for some sort of reaction. He didn't give one. He couldn't. Even looking at Donghyuck would be too much for him at that given moment.

  He could learn to deal, he knew.

  But just then, nothing was going right, and all of his plans had crumbled around him. Chaeyoung placed a comforting hand on his under the table, and Mark offered a glance to thank her for just being there. She offered a weak, sad smile.

  After school, Mark went home, flopped down on his bed, and fell asleep. He was exhausted, after all, both physically and emotionally. It was going to be a long tenth grade year.

  He was woken up rudely by the far too loud vibration of his phone. It seemed like no one just wanted to let him wallow. He unlocked it with his fingerprint and, too his surprise, found himself in a new group chat.

 

**_anti-tzuchan chat_ **

 

[Nana

  welcome one and welcome all

 

^-^

  who's all here?

 

Midget #2

  renjun

 

Nana

  jaemin

 

^-^

  jeno

 

Midget 🤙

  No clue what this is but

  Chaeyoung

 

Tragic Dumbass

 Lucad

 *Lucas

 

Mark

What is this?

 

Nana

  okay we're all present

  we all know haechannie is dating tzuyu

 

Midget 🤙

  Unfortunately

 

^-^

  and literally all of us are on the markchan train

 

Mark

I'm so confused

 

Midget #2

  both you and haechan are such idiots. it should be illegal for you not to be together

 

Mark

I really appreciate that

But I don't like Donghyuck

 

^-^

  you don't have to lie

 

Midget 🤙

  Maybe he isn't lying]

 

  Mark groaned. He had nothing left to lose.

 

[Mark

Fine

I like him

 

Nana

  then we can get started

 

Tragic Dumbass

  What if Donghyuck just doesn't lije boyt

  *like boys

 

Midget #2

  oh he does

 

Midget 🤙

  Problem number one dealt with ig

 

Mark

Are you sure this isn't betraying his trust or something

I just want him to be happy

 

Nana

  we know haechan. this will make him happier

 

^-^

  or else

 

Mark

Why do I feel like I'm making a terrible mistake

 

Midget 🤙

  The grand plan has expanded]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this gonna have a full chat fic chapter? Maybe. The world may never know. And I just threw in a whole plot point I didn't plan at all. Who is even surprised at this point?


	11. Lies

  "I'm going to talk to Tzuyu," Chaeyoung announced to Mark as she sat down in first hour.

  "This whole group chat thing is already only making me more hopeless," Mark said. "Why are you going along with this?"

  "You and Donghyuck are literally soulmates. And he's making you sad right now. And you won't let me punch him."

  "That would hurt me, too."

  Chaeyoung clicked her tongue. "Technicalities."

  "He  _ likes _ Tzuyu," Mark complained. He had seen them holding hands in the hallway, Tzuyu with her signature shy smile and Donghyuck with his glowing face. They were in choir together. Most of the time Mark was around Donghyuck, he was talking about Tzuyu, and around his friends it was no different unless they were all in dance class. Even his parents were growing concerned with the amount of moping he had been doing. It had been three days since they got together. Mark had to hope he either got over it, they broke up, or he was somehow removed from the dramatic pain that was existing.

  Mark knew he didn't share emotional pain with Donghyuck, because that boy was as smiley as ever.

  "I know he does right now," Chaeyoung responded, snapping him out of his pity party.  "But it's high school. And he hardly knows her."

  Mark sighed. There was no point arguing with them. He had already tried. "When are you going to talk to her?"

  "I'm gonna ask Donghyuck to let me meet her," she shrugged. "I'm not afraid of him, unlike you."

  "I am  _ not  _ afraid of Donghyuck."

  "Sure."

  Mark gave up on convincing her as the bell rang.

  During lunch, Chaeyoung did exactly that. "Ya know, Hyuckface-"

  "That's not even an insult," Haechan argued. Renjun gave Chaeyoung a high-five, his face etched into a deadpan expression.

  "You talk so much about this Tzuyu girl," she continued, "And yet we have never met her."

  "I'll go get her right now," Donghyuck said, standing, totally confident in his actions just like always. He marched away and Mark waved his hands questioningly at Chaeyoung, all the others joining in on their silent communication. Jeno cut them all off subtly and turned to watch Donghyuck return to the table, a sheepish Tzuyu at his side.

  "Everyone, this is Tzuyu," Donghyuck said proudly. "Tzuyu this is-" he pointed as he went around the circle, "-Jeno, Renjun, Jaemin, Lucas, Mark, and Chaeyoung."

  Tzuyu didn't speak for a second, just nodded in acknowledgement and smiled kindly at them all. Mark wanted to hate her, but she was so…  _ nice. _ Tzuyu's eyes lingered on Chaeyoung. "How tall are you?" she said happily, but quietly. "You're so cute!"

  Chaeyoung's face morphed into one of rage, but there was something lying underneath it that Mark couldn't place. "Someday I'm going to grow and you'll all be sorry."

  Tzuyu's smile instantly died, even though everyone at the table laughed. Mark sensed something was off, but he said nothing, just chuckled along. He wouldn't have noticed Tzuyu leaving the room, immediately followed by Chaeyoung, if he hadn't been bothered by the aura between them. He had no clue what was going on, but with all this plotting, it wasn't hard to guess Chaeyoung was doing something. He tried not to think about it.

   Mark's phone went off during his next class, earning a glare from the teacher. He went to silence it, but hesitated when he saw the message.

 

**_anti-tzuchan chat_ **

 

Midget 🤙

  There's been an unexpected development.

 

Mark

I told you not to talk to her

What happened?

 

^-^

  i figured you were executing your master plan

 

Nana

  i'm also here what's up

 

Midget 🤙

  Tzuyu

  You know, Hyuckface's girlfriend

  Is my soulmate

 

Mark

What. The. Hell.

 

Midget 🤙

  I have a first words tattoo

 

Nana

 oh my god

 

Midget 🤙

  I wanted to break them up but this was a little much

 

Midget #2

  did it work????

 

Midget 🤙

  She said we would talk later. I'm not sure.

  I'll keep you all updated.

 

-

 

  When Mark returned home, his phone went off again.

 

**_anti-tzuchan chat_ **

 

Midget 🤙

  Okay y'all.

 

Tragic Dumbass

  Are we finally gonna make my ship a reskity

  *reality

 

Nana

  yessss tea

 

Mark

I've said it before and I'll say it again

I just want Hyuck to be happy

 

Midget #2

  i don't

 

Midget 🤙

  Yeah me neither.

  Donghyuck is dating my soulmate so I have a personal stake in this now.

 

^-^

  you two would be so cute together uwu

 

Mark

Okay, fine. What's going on?

 

Midget 🤙

  We've been texting.

 

Nana

  okay… and?

 

Midget 🤙

  I'll just send you screenshots.

 

**_Chewy_ **

 

[Chaeyoung

I mean. I like you. If that helps at all.

 

Chewy

  I know, and I like you too. Soulmates are really important to me

  But I also like Haechan

 

Chaeyoung

I don't want to tell you what to do with your life or anything.

But Haechan is a total idiot.

 

Chewy

  Hahahaha I know]

 

Midget 🤙

  Wait there's more.

 

**_Chewy_ **

 

[Chaeyoung

He also has a soulmate. I don't know if you know that.

 

Chewy

  He does??? Does he know them?

 

Chaeyoung

Yeah, Mark.

 

Chewy

  I can't believe he didn't tell me that

 

Chaeyoung

Yeah. His name is Donghyuck, too. I don't know if he told you that either.]

 

Midget 🤙

  Okay one more.

 

**_Chewy_ **

 

[Chewy

  He didn't

  Sorry, this is just a lot

 

Chaeyoung

I understand.

 

Chewy

  I don't really want to be with him, Chae, if he's lying to me

  And to everyone else

 

Chaeyoung

We don't really know what's going on with him.

We're working to figure it out.

 

Chewy

  I hope you do ♥️]

 

Nana

  have they broken up???

 

Midget 🤙

  Not as far as I know.

 

Mark

He hasn't tried to annoy me about it yet, so probably not.

 

^-^

  one, you and tzuyu are so cute and i ship it

  two, haechan is probably going to be disproportionately upset about this

 

Mark

Are you sure? He doesn't like negative emotions.

 

Midget #2

  not real ones

 

Nana

  ^^^^^

 

Tragic Dumbass

  does donghyuck hacr feeling

  *have

 

Midget #2

  he has one

  annoying

 

Mark

Retweet

 

^-^

  anyway, mark. are u gonna snatch your man back?

 

Mark

He's a fifteen year old who sleeps with a teddy bear and whines about everything.

Not a man.

 

Nana

  boom roasted

 

Midget 🤙

  Shut up, that describes all of you.

 

Tragic Dumbass

  boom roasted

 

Midget #2

  interacting with all of you is killing my brain cells

 

Mark

I agree

 

Midget #2

 you're not an exception, lee

 

Mark

Ok wow

 

^-^

  kids, kids

 

Midget #2

   anyway is tzuyu going to break up with haechan?

 

Midget 🤙

   I think so.

 

Nana

  nyeheheh my plan worked]

 

-

 

  Donghyuck walked into lunch with his head hung low, totally uncharacteristic of him, and Mark was confused before he remembered Tzuyu. Then, he just felt  _ bad _ .

  Renjun rolled his eyes. "What's wrong, Donghyuck?" he deadpanned, not an ounce of curiosity in his voice.

  "Tzuyu broke up with me!"

  "Did… did she say why?" Chaeyoung asked.

  "She said I was being dishonest and that she just wasn't that into me," he complained, flopping down in his usual seat next to Mark and placing his chin on the table.

  "Wow, how unprecedented," Renjun said.

  Jeno smacked his arm. "What Junnie meant to say is that we're very sorry you're upset."

  "Bitches ain't shit," Jaemin confirmed.

  "Language!" Jeno scolded.

  In his wallowing, Donghyuck leaned into Mark's shoulder, and Mark froze for a second before allowing it. Even if it made him want to scream about how cute Donghyuck was, and he felt almost obligated to push him away, Donghyuck was still at least partially saddened by what happened. Mark wasn't really familiar with  _ sad.  _ Only angry. He didn't know what to do. 

  "You'd never leave me, Markles," Donghyuck proclaimed into the fabric of his sweatshirt.

  Mark didn't respond and figured he took that as agreement.  _ But you would leave me _ , he thought.

  "Do you want to hang out today after school?" Donghyuck asked, sitting up quickly. His face was back to glowing, not a trace of his former sadness on his face. Mark much preferred this.

  "I have a lot of homework to do," Mark said, truthfully. He couldn't manage to pay attention in class as well as he should due to the drama he couldn't escape. If he didn't study, he was bound to end up failing, and he had given up on his childhood dreams of dropping out.

  "Please? We haven't hung out at all recently?"

  "I wonder whose fault that is," Mark replied, voice quiet.

  Donghyuck retracted from him slowly, sitting back in his own seat. Jaemin, Jeno, Renjun, and Lucas were all involved in an enthusiastic conversation that seemed to be about Chinese food, and Chaeyoung was staring wistfully off towards a nearby table where Tzuyu was inevitably sitting. "Hyuck."

  Donghyuck sat up and turned to him, something akin to worry in his eyes. "We need to talk. To really... talk."

  He looked confused for a second, and then scared, before he looked almost defeated. Mark had never seen him look that vulnerable or exhausted. His face was weighed down by whatever he was thinking, and Mark wanted to comfort him if it was possible. He knew it wasn't. Mark turned back towards his friends and tried to engage in normal conversation with them, but the anxiety returned to him. He had to talk to Donghyuck. There was nothing left to hide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aHhhh what am I doING I DON'T K N O W  
> and my knowledge of twice ships is wEAK


	12. Serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You...what?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big long piece of dialogue. I love writing dialogue.

  Donghyuck hadn't spent a lot of time in Mark's apartment, and that alone made him feel weird. The apartment was home. He sat on those hardwood floors when he was so angry that his lungs threatened to collapse, and hid in that kitchen while Uncle Felix said things regretted and later apologized for. Donghyuck now paced awkwardly around the space, no physical closeness for Mark to shove away, but Donghyuck was certainly shoving away something.

  He picked up a picture frame on the counter - a picture of Jisung, Chenle, and Mark from several years back - and hummed in recognition. Mark sighed, tired of the beating around the bush that was Donghyuck's lack of initiative. "Hyuck."

  "This is cute," he said, gesturing to the photo. He still didn't turn to face Mark.

  "We have to talk."

  Chaeyoung would be proud of him, he reckoned. Donghyuck sighed and sat down on the couch, sinking into it as far as he could manage as if it could swallow him whole. "Can I just… can I talk first?"

  Mark was surprised by that, of course, but nodded when Donghyuck turned back to look at him. He moved to sit next to him.

  "God, Mark," he started. His name without the extra syllables was off-putting and all too serious. "I'm so sorry."

  "You… have to be more specific than that."

  "Is there more than one thing I should be sorry for?" he asked, face blown out in genuine confusion. Mark sighed heavily.

  "Yes. We'll… just. Please. Continue."

  "I'm sorry for not telling everyone we're soulmates way back when I first found out, but that was… a really long time ago. But I didn't tell anyone until middle school. And I never properly apologized for it."

  "Why did you do it?" Mark asked, pulling at his school uniform. He hadn't changed. It only made everything more uncomfortable.

  "I… it was all too serious for me at the time. I knew you were my soulmate, you know."

  "Yeah, after I  _ broke your arm _ ," Mark reminisced.

  "No. Before that."

  He froze and looked up at Donghyuck's face, contorted into a regretful expression as he looked for answers in the wood grain of the coffee table. "You… what?"

  "I always knew, in the back of my mind," Donghyuck said, running a hand over his hair. "And I hated you for it. You aren't supposed to find your soulmate that early. And I don't know if you know this about me, but I hate… serious."

  Mark nodded knowingly.

  "But in middle school," he continued, "I really was shallow. What everyone thought mattered more than anything, and I saw having to attach myself to anyone like that as alienation. And… it was you."

  "You knew people didn't like me."

  "I did. But after you got mad at me that day in the dance room, I realized some things are more important," Donghyuck admitted.

  They were both silent for a bit before Donghyuck let out a cry of anguish. "This is so serious! I hate it, God, can we be done yet?"

  "No," Mark said firmly. "There's more you aren't saying."

  Donghyuck looked confused, almost mockingly so, before he gave up whatever ruse he was planning on using. "I didn't tell Tzuyu we were soulmates. Because I wanted her to like me."

  "And it was stupid," Mark added.

  "Very stupid. And I'm sorry."

  Mark smoothed out his uniform pants. "I have a question now. Chaeyoung told me I should ask you."

  Donghyuck looked at him expectantly.

  "Why do you have people call you Haechan?"

  Donghyuck laughed. "I was escaping. I always knew you were my soulmate, ever since I met you, and I hated… I hated the idea that decisions were made for me. I wanted to be in control. That, and I really wanted people to like me. So I lied to them, gave them a cool name."

  Mark gaped, just trying to absorb all the information.

  "They don't know me, Mark. Jeno, Jaemin, and Renjun do, sure, but I'm popular because people like what I put out. Tzuyu didn't even know me. You've never even seen the other side of me. Haechan. So you never knew.

  "Haechan doesn't cling onto people. Or whine all the time. Or love music, even. He's not as much. I don't even like the people that being Haechan has gotten me close to. They're superficial. They don't think anything. But I can't give it up, for some reason."

  Donghyuck nodded in subtle realization, his own monologue evidently helping him.

  "Donghyuck…"

  Donghyuck threw up his arms in celebration before falling even more wholeheartedly into the couch. "I'm a poser and I'm insecure!" he cheered. It was clearly an attempt to bring some sort of humor to the situation, but it only broke Mark's heart as he saw his eyes turn glossy.

  Mark approached him slowly, cautiously, unfamiliar with this. Donghyuck seemed to be more familiar with the situation than him and stood to wrap his arms around Mark. He reciprocated the hug as gently as he could manage, almost scared by the sobs escaping Donghyuck's mouth.

  "God, Donghyuck, it's okay," Mark said, rubbing his hand tentatively across his back.

  "I'm sorry," Donghyuck muttered. "I'm so sorry."

  "It's okay, it's okay, I forgive you."

  Donghyuck let out another choked sound. Mark was maybe panicking.

  "Sshhhh, shhh, it's okay, Hyuck, I love you-"

  He barely finished the thought when Donghyuck pushed off him enough to look at him, a stupid smile on his face despite the tears streaking his cheeks.

  "Uh," Mark said eloquently.

  Donghyuck jumped almost comically out his grasp to safely point at him from a few feet away. " _ You said-" _

__ "Don't remind me!" Mark whined. "I take it back, I take it back, let's never talk about this again-"

  "Are you saying you don't?"

  Donghyuck's face had frozen and fallen slightly, as if he almost knew the answer, but he wasn't entirely sure.

  "No, well, yes, I mean… what do you… this is a trick question."

  "Do you love me, Mark Lee?" Donghyuck said, one eyebrow cocked and a stupid smile on his face.

  "Not anymore."

  "Wait," Donghyuck stopped, his dramatic pose disintegrating. "Did you mean…?"

  Mark couldn't look at him. Just like in class, though, the blank wall didn't contain any solutions. Did he just accidentally confess to his own soulmate? Yes. Was his life now ruined? Probably. Did he know how to deal with it? No.

  When he finally gained the courage to glance at Donghyuck again, he was staring in surprise at the flooring, his face occasionally shifting to show a different thought process. It was cute. Way too cute. Mark opened his mouth and let the words escape.

  "I like you, Donghyuck. That's… that's what I meant. And I totally understand if you don't like boys at all or if you're just still weirded out by the soulmate thing, but it's the truth, and-"

  He held his breath to prevent himself from talking, puffing his cheeks out, and looked up at Donghyuck's marvelled smile. Marvelous smile. He's cute.

  "You… you like me."

  "Yeah."

  "How long?"

  Mark took his happy tone to mean there was no cause for concern, so he just answered.

  "Since middle school."

  "But you've always pushed me away," Donghyuck wondered.

  "I was scared," Mark said, shrugging. "I, much like you, am afraid of feelings."

  "This is a mess," Donghyuck chuckled, pinching his nose bridge.

  "So?"

  "So?" Donghyuck asked. Mark raised his eyebrows. "Oh," Donghyuck continued. "I like you. Too. Yeah."

  "Really?"

  "Really."

  They stood there awkwardly without doing anything for much longer than necessary.

  "...what now?" Mark asked.

  "I… don't actually know. My first and only relationship lasted three days."

  "That doesn't bode well for us," Mark joked.

  "You're stuck with me," Donghyuck claimed, pointing at him accusingly. "Exits are prohibited."

  Jokingly, Mark made a mad dash for the door, and would have managed to wrench the handle open if not for Donghyuck pulling him to the ground and tickling his ribs relentlessly.

  The door creaked open.

  Chan's eyes widened in extremely evident confusion. Donghyuck spoke first. "Hello, Uncle Chan."

  "Hyuck," he greeted. "What's going on here…?"

  "Mark said he  _ loves  _ me!" Donghyuck said, attacking him again.

  "On  _ accident!" _ Mark protested, trying to push him off.

  "Why the hell," Donghyuck said.

  "Language," Chan reminded, walking into the kitchen.

  "Why the heck. Did you. Let me date Tzuyu?"

  "She's prettier than me," Mark said half-seriously, finally managing to restrict Donghyuck's hands and catch his breath.

  "She isn't," Donghyuck said earnestly.

  Mark stares at him, eyes wide, face too close, and blinked. Donghyuck kissed him quickly on the nose and giggled, running off.

  Mark chased him, not having enough time to overthink anything. Things were like that with Donghyuck, generally. Simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter, y'all. And this time it isn't changing. Thank you for sticking it out with me.


	13. Lights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy! This is the end, y'all.

**_anti-tzuchan chat_ **

 

[Nana

  y'all we need to change the chat name

 

**_markhyuck stans_ **

 

Nana

  much better

 

^-^

  okay what happened????

 

Mark

I'm almost equally confused

 

Midget #2

  jaemin saw mark and hyuckchan walking into the building

 

Nana

  holding h a n d s

 

Mark

Oh shoot. I didn't tell you

 

^-^

  ????????

 

Mark

I told Hyuck I like him

 

Midget 🤙

  You what

 

Mark

We're kind of together now I think

 

Tragic Dumbass

   your communication problems give me heart palm tree actions

 

Midget #2

  … do you mean… heart palpitations

 

Nana

  oh my god

 

Midget 🤙

  This group chat is a mess.

 

^-^

  still!!! i'm so happy for you two!

 

Mark

Thanks Jeno

 

???

  uhhh what am I doing in this chat

 

Midget 🤙 

  I added Tzuyu

 

Nana

  welcome!

 

Chewy

  thanks?

 

Midget #2

  jaemin put your phone away

 

Nana

  hypocrite

  wait the teacher saw

  rip me

 

Midget #2

  lmao]

 

  Mark had, indeed, walked into school holding hands with Donghyuck that morning, but it wasn't out of the ordinary for them to be close. Jaemin just always knew things, he supposed. Him and Renjun seemed to possess the only brain cells.

  Whatever reservations Donghyuck had of their relationship before instantly vanished, which should have been expected. Donghyuck was extremely all-or-nothing. When Mark saw him entering the cafeteria with that ridiculous grin on his face, he figured he had the right to be concerned. He straightened up and smiled back as he approached him. He was still cute. Adorable. Glowing and shining in the horrible lighting and Mark definitely loved him.

  Donghyuck clapped his hands on Mark's shoulders, standing behind him, and proclaimed all too loudly, "My name is Lee Donghyuck, and this is my soulmate and boyfriend Mark Bang-Kim, and I love him!"

  A few stray claps sounded, but mostly odd looks. Mark buried his face in his arms.

  "Oh… my God," Jaemin said, a laugh frozen on his features.

  "Are you trying to tell everyone in the entirety of Korea or something?" Mark complained.

  Donghyuck shrugged. "Maybe."

  "I'm getting diabetes," Renjun said through a mouthful of rice.

  "Yeah, but it's unrelated," Jeno responded.

  Renjun rolled his eyes. "Don't attack me like this."

  Donghyuck poked Mark's shoulder, prompting him to sit up and uncover his face. He beamed again, and Mark couldn't help but reciprocate.

  "I brought Tzuyu," Chaeyoung announced, sitting down in her usual seat and pulling said girl down beside her. She laughed.

  "Hello again, everyone," Tzuyu greeted, smile wide and laughing in apparent anxiety.

  "You broke up with Haechan!" Renjun mused, pointing at her.

  "Donghyuck," Donghyuck correct quickly.

  Mark's eyes widened at him. "Hyuck, I never said you had to drop Haechan."

  He shrugged. "I want to."

  "...you broke up with Donghyuck!" Jaemin reiterated.

  "I did," Tzuyu confirmed, laughing and nodding.

  Donghyuck clenched his heart in mock pain. "I can still feel the pain…"

  "You dated for less time than Romeo and Juliet," Renjun pointed out.

  "Except they were soulmates," Tzuyu pointed out.

  "And somehow caused much less destruction than the two of you," Jaemin gestured.

  "Leave my girlfriend alone," Chaeyoung complained, wrapping her arms around Tzuyu's shoulders protectively. Given their height difference, it was almost comical.

  "Don't tell me what to do," Jaemin retorted.

  "Yah-"

 

-

 

  "Nervous?"

  "Never," Chenle retorted.

  "You're shaking," Jisung corrected, holding up Chenle's indeed trembling hand, intertwined with his own. 

  "Shush," Chenle said. "Where's Hyuckie?"

  "Late getting ready, as per usual," Mark deduced. "And Nana is over there nagging his ear off about it, presumably."

  "Where is Hyuckface?"

  Renjun had picked up a lot of things from Chaeyoung, and the Hyuckface nickname was one of them. They were surprisingly close, even if it was just out a mutual amount of salt. Chaeyoung proclaimed him her best friend, since Tzuyu was her soulmate and "didn't count".

  "He's getting his makeup done," Chenle answered smoothly.

  "We're on soon," Renjun complained.

  "It'll be fine," Mark said, reassuring himself more than anyone.

  "I'm still gonna go find him," Renjun said resolutely, marching away.

  "Let's just all go," Chenle said, following him and pulling Chenle along. Mark rolled his eyes and walked with them.

  "-you coward, Lee Donghyuck! You absolute… oh, hi, Renjun."

  They all filtered into the dressing room, definitely cramped into the small space. Jaemin had clearly been berating Donghyuck for something or other as he fixed his hair.

  "What… is going on," Mark asked.

  "Don't worry about it," Donghyuck announced, face clearly reddened by more than the warm and unventilated space. He stood and turned around, and Mark felt like he was blinded.

  His eyes were so glittery with gold, and Mark knew his makeup matched, but Donghyuck was… angelic, almost. He became aware of his sudden inability to breathe when Jeno nudged him with his elbow in the ribs.

  "Hi," Mark struggled out.

  "Let's all go and… go!" Chenle cheered, carefully shoving everyone out of the dressing room as Mark stood, staring at Donghyuck, jaw on the floor and pupils blown wide.

  "Hi," Donghyuck returned, smiling, and Mark was impressed he didn't faint or do something equally stupid.

  Mark breathed out a quiet, light laugh, and Donghyuck returned it.

  "You look beautiful," Mark finally mustered. "All the time. But right now, more so. I. Yeah."

  "You, too. You're really pretty."

  "What, that doesn't hurt to admit?" Mark joked.

  "Never."

  Mark beamed. He stepped a bit closer to Donghyuck to hold his hands.

  "I love you," Donghyuck muttered.

  He hadn't said it. Ever. Mark said he loved Donghyuck months ago on accident, and maybe he whispered it on Christmas while Donghyuck was in a candy-induced coma, but they'd never exchanged it. Especially starting with Donghyuck. Mark met his warm, shining eyes, and smiled. "I love you, too."

  There was a harsh pounding on the door. "Yah, lovebirds, we have to go!" Jaemin shrieked.

  Donghyuck leaned forward quickly, pressing his glossed lips against Mark's cheek briefly. Mark didn't wipe off the strange, sticky substance, enjoying how the contact warmed his skin. He followed Donghyuck out of the dressing room.

  "You have lip gloss on your face," Jeno pointed out, holding Mark into place by his shoulder and wiping it away with his sleeve. "Alright, let's go!"

  They ran, full of adrenaline, back towards the stage. The previous performers were already exiting through the opposite side, making Mark thankful for their timing but anxious for the performance to come.

  "Let's go," Mark whispered, just to all of them, right before they rushed out.

  The performance was just like he had hoped. Mark almost tripped over his own feet when Donghyuck smiled at him, and he watched Chenle's hat dramatically exit stage left for reasons he couldn't be bothered to contemplate, but it went well, and the applause gave him a buzz almost as intense as the feeling of Donghyuck's hand in his own.

  They paraded off stage, immediately collapsing into a haphazard hug, a mess of limbs and laughter and sweat.

  "Chenle, what happened your hat?" Jeno muttered, laughing.

  "Jaemin threw it!"

  Donghyuck giggled, squirming, almost sending all of them sprawling onto the floor.

  Slowly, they filtered out, gathering their things and exchanging final congratulatory hugs. Mark spoke to the other members of their dance class who performed, but he had performed nearly last, so the crowds were sparse both backstage and in the audience.

   When Mark finally said goodbye to Jisung and Chenle outside that auditorium, he became painfully aware of the lack of warmth at his side. He made his way backstage through the side door and looked out at the empty stage.

  Empty, that is, except for Donghyuck, still in his costume but his makeup definitely faded and smudged, staring out at the dark and empty audience as he sat on the edge and swung his legs absentmindedly.

  Mark wordlessly sat beside him.

  "Hi."

  Donghyuck grinned and placed his hand over Mark's. "Hi."

  "You said you loved me."

  "Well, it's because I meant it."

  Mark smiled as Donghyuck leaned over to place his head on his shoulder. Mark turned to kiss his forehead.

  "You okay?" he asked.

  Donghyuck sighed happily. "Of course. You're here."

  "Other than that."

  "I'm just tired. It's been a lot."

  Mark chuckled. "You're right about that."

  "You're… really… the love of my life."

  The sudden sincerity made Mark's heart jump. "You're mine, too."

  "Thank you."

  "For what?"

  "For forgiving me. It's been a rough sixteen years for us both."

  "You're only fifteen, Hyuck."

  "Life was hard before I was born," he joked, laughing breathily. 

  "I know what you mean, though. And thanks for letting me be here with you."

  "Anytime. Always. Forever."

  The rest of the lights in the auditorium, one by one, turned off, leaving them in darkness with nothing but each other.

  Donghyuck sighed. "How are we gonna get out?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :>  
> Thank you all for reading.  
> Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to talk (please talk to me) I'm @ByeOrWassupMan on Twitter :>


End file.
